Equistone buys Européenne des Desserts in SBO

Greg Gille
21 October 2013

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Equistone Partners has acquired French desserts maker Européenne des Desserts from Azulis Capital and Céréa Partenaire.

The deal is understood to be worth in excess of €100m and is expected to complete in November.

Equistone invested via the Equistone Partners Europe Fund IV vehicle, which closed on €1.5bn at the start of the year, securing a stake of around two thirds. Européenne's management team also took part in the buyout. The outgoing shareholders will retain a minority stake in the business.

Ardian (formerly Axa Private Equity) provided unitranche financing to support the transaction. The facility amounted to less than half of the transaction value, according to a source close to the situation.

The deal follows up on Equistone's investment in another French fruit dessert maker, Charles & Alice Group, alongside existing investor CM-CIC Capital Finance this summer.

Céréa and Azulis acquired frozen food producer Martine Spécialités from listed UK group Premier Foods in a management buyout in 2009. Céréa and Azulis both took a share of around 43%. A year later, the backers created the Européenne des Desserts holding to merge Martine Spécialités with two other brands, Delmotte Pâtisserie and Trois Abers.

Company
Established in 1984, Européenne des Desserts is a frozen baking business operating five production sites; four in France and one in the UK. The group's customers are businesses active in the retail and catering sectors.

The group is now expected to post a €140m turnover for 2013; it employs 770 staff.

People
Guillaume Jacqueau, Arnaud Thomas and Thierry Lardinois worked on the deal for Equistone. Cerea was represented by Gilles Sicard, Antoine Peyronnet and Xavier Renault. Pierre Jourdain, Michel Rowan and Julien Hess represented Azulis.

Advisers
Equity – SJ Berwin, Thomas Maitrejean, Benjamin Garçon (Legal); Eight Advisory, Stéphane Vanbergue, Aurélien Vion (Financial due diligence); Arsène Taxand, Denis Andrès, Alexandre Rocchi (Tax); Roland Berger, Delphine Mathez, Benjamin Entraygues, Romain Cécile (Commercial due diligence); Marsh, Jean-Marie Dargaignaratz (Insurance due diligence).
Vendors – BNP Paribas Corporate Finance, Sylvina Mayer, Amaury Lefébure, Marc Walbaum, Nicolas Joaille (M&A); Paul Hastings, Olivier Deren, Edith Boucaya (Legal); Grant Thornton, Frédéric Zeitoun, Pascale Pasquer, Vincent Marguer (Financial due diligence); Indefi, Julien Berger, Mehdi Belefqhi (Commercial due diligence); ERM, Julien Famy, Cécile Collantier (Environmental due diligence).
Debt – SJ Berwin, Olivier Vermeulen (Legal); Willkie Farr, Paul Lombard (Legal).
Management – The Silver Company, Stéphane Argyropoulos (Corporate finance); Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle, Henri Pieyre de Mandiargues, Diana Hund, Julie Seroka (Legal); Arsène Taxand, Franck Chaminade, Brice Picard (Tax).