Bridgepoint buys eFront in €300m SBO

Babson Capital, ING, HSBC and Bank of Ireland arranged a debt package for the transaction.

Bridgepoint stated that areas of focus over the holding period would include strengthening the company's market share, targeting new customers, diversifying the product offering and expanding into new geographies and asset classes.

Francisco Partners took eFront private in 2011. The GP initially bought a 74.19% stake in the company – the €18 share price represented a 62.16% premium over eFront's €11.10 trading price at the time. The offer valued the business – which had been listed for around five years – at approximately €68m.

eFront's management continued to hold a stake in the business.

It was not the first time that the company was backed by financial sponsors. Among selling shareholders in the 2011 take-private were funds managed by CDC Innovation (which held a 27% stake), Odyssée Venture and OTC Asset Management.

Company
eFront is a provider of business software for financial services, focused on alternative investment and risk management. It was founded in 1999 by Olivier Dellenbach, who remains in his position of CEO, and is headquartered in Paris.

People
Xavier Robert worked on the deal for Bridgepoint. Francisco Partners was represented by Peter Christodoulo.

Advisers
Equity – DC Advisory (Corporate finance); Bain (Commercial due diligence); EY (Financial due diligence); Latham Watkins (Legal).
Vendor, company – Barclays Capital (Corporate finance); Deloitte (Financial due diligence); Kirkland & Ellis (Legal); Cabinet Franklin (Legal); AMCC Law (Legal).
Management – Scotto & Associés (Legal); Banque Privée 1818 (Corporate finance).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Exits
• France
• Financials
• France
• Bridgepoint
• Francisco Partners
• Secondary buyout
• Unq2015Feb