ICG picks up Equistone's APEM

Alice Murray
14 February 2014

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

Equistone Partners Europe has sold its majority stake in APEM Group to minority shareholder Intermediate Capital Group (ICG).

Following the deal, ICG will support APEM in expanding its international presence.

Previous investment
Equistone (then Barclays Private Equity) took APEM private in January 2007. According to unquote" data, the buyout house secured a 96.26% shareholding in the company in late 2006, subsequently delisting the business. The transaction valued the company at around €92m, and was supported with a debt package underwritten by Societe Generale, with ICG supplying mezzanine financing.

In 2008, Equistone supported the company's acquisition of US-based CH Products, enabling APEM to establish a presence in the US.

Company
Established in 1952, France-based APEM manufactures human-machine interfaces. Its components are used in a range of applications for the transport, defence, industrial automation, medical and telecom sectors. Through its APEM and MEC brands, the company supplies switches, joysticks, keyboards and LED indicators.

In 2013, the company reported sales of €85m across its 11 subsidiaries. APEM sells 40 million switches, 1 million keyboards and 300,000 joysticks each year.

APEM employs 1,200 people throughout its 13 production sites in Europe, North Africa, the US and Asia.

People
Guillaume Jacqueau, Stanislas Gaillard, Grégoire Chatillon and Grégoire Schlumberger led the deal for Equistone. Hadj Djemai, Erwan le Tanneur, Pascal Borello and Nicolas Antraigue managed the deal for ICG.

Advisers
Vendor – De Pardieu Brocas Maffei (Legal).
Equity – Latham & Watkins (Legal); Lazard (Corporate finance); LEK (Commercial due diligence); PwC (Financial due diligence); Landwell (Tax).
Management – Desfilis & McGowan (Legal).