Apax France buys Texa

Apax secured a majority stake, while Pragma reinvested in the transaction to hold onto a minority stake. Apax invested via its eighth buyout fund, which closed on €700m in July last year. This is the fund's fourth transaction, and the vehicle is now invested at around 30%.

Apax's financial services team had identified Texa as a promising investment opportunity and directly approached Pragma, who was looking to exit the business after a four-year investment period. Pragma did, however, consult other potential buyers, but the transaction was completed outside of a formal intermediated auction process.

Texa will now look to expand its service offering, implement improvements across its business, expand its network and pursue bolt-on acquisition opportunities.

This is the second deal in a week for Apax France: the GP also reinvested in French eyewear retailer Alain Afflelou, a business it has been backing since 2000.

Debt
CIC, Société Générale (SocGen), LCL, Banque Palatine and BNP Paribas arranged a senior debt package to finance the transaction. CIC, SocGen and LCL had already been involved in the Pragma-led buyout of Texa in 2008.

Previous funding
Pragma bought Texa via its Pragma II fund in 2008. The company was sold by Abénex, which originally purchased it in 2004 from AtriA Capital and Union d'Etudes et d'Investissements.

The initial debt package comprised an A and B senior tranche as well as a mezzanine tranche. The senior debt was provided by CIC, LCL, Crédit Agricole Centre Loire and SocGen. The mezzanine tranche was wholly provided by CIC Mezzanine. The total debt package was valued at more than €40m and was based on a 3.5-4x EBITDA multiple.

Company
Paris-based Texa is a loss-adjuster in non-life and large technical risks serving insurance companies. Founded in 1987, it progressively expanded through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions of independent loss adjusters.

The company later diversified into other non-life insurance segments, including theft, fire, water damage, property damage, third-party liability and business interruption. Texa has also been active in the real estate diagnosis market since the acquisition of AlloDiagnostic in 2009.

Texa employs 1,300 staff across 80 offices. It posted a €106m turnover in 2011.

People
Monique Cohen, Thomas Simon, Romain Dutartre and Yvan Longuet worked on the deal for Apax France. Pragma was represented by Stéphane Monmousseau, Denis Catz and Jérôme Pinart. Christian de Belair is the founder of Texa.

Advisers
Equity – Leonardo, Patrick Maurel, Valérie Pellereau, Christophe Muyard (M&A); Clifford Chance, Gilles Lebreton, Aymeric Boisseau, Yann Beckers, Alexandre Lagarrigue, Charles-Henri de Gouvion Saint Cyr, Emmanuel Durand (Legal); Ernst & Young, Stéphane Seguin (Financial due diligence); Bain & Company, Camille Goossens (Strategic due diligence).
Vendors – Weil Gotschal & Manges, Frédéric Cazals (Legal); 8Advisory, Lionnel Gerard (Financial due diligence); Kramer Levin, Frankel & Naftalis, Yannick Olivier (Legal, tax).
Company & management – Oloryn Partners, Frédéric Jannin, Eric Lesieur (Corporate finance); Landwell & Associés, Xavier Rollet, Catherine Olive, Julien Cohen (Legal).

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• Topics
• France
• Buyouts
• Financials
• Exits
• France
• Apax France SA
• Sparring Capital (formerly Pragma Capital)
• Secondary buyout