Faceo (France) - Nov 2007

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01 November 2007

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Apax Partners SA has backed the management buyout of facility management company Faceo from previous owners Cegelec and Thales. The transaction, which values the business at less than €250m (not including its cash balance), or less than 10x EBITDA 2007, was sourced directly by the buyout house, after lengthy negotiations. Several private equity firms and trade buyers made pre-emptive bids, which prompted the mandating of Natixis Finance and Hawkpoint to run a restricted selection process.

Financing

Société Générale, which underwrote a three-tranche €155m senior debt package, did not change its lending conditions despite the instability of the summer. Indigo Capital provided €25m in mezzanine credit.

Company

Established in 2000, Faceo provides a range of facility management services, including cleaning, maintenance, security, remote monitoring, document management, reception and property management. Its clients include notably AGF, Alcatel, Areva, EADS, France Telecom, General Electric, Nestlé, PSA, Sanofi-Aventis and Siemens. The company’s turnover reached €349m in 2006, up 10% on 2005. Further growth will be achieved through a strengthening of sales capabilities, and acquisitions of companies with complementary expertises. The business employs 1,533 staff in France, the UK, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and the Benelux region.

People

Monique Cohen, David Kownator, Olivier Personnaz and Julien Gauthier worked on the transaction for Apax Partners SA. Marc Alix and Paulo Nave prepared the debt for Société Générale, while Richard Collins and Cyril de Galea arranged the mezzanine for Indigo Capital. Serge Clemente and Serge Delon are Faceo’s co-managers.

Advisers

Equity - Alain Calmé, Sébastien Murbach (Other Due Diligence)Equity - Lazard Frères Paris, Laurent Rossetti, Yann Dever (Corporate Finance)Equity - Marsh, Jean-Marie Dargagnaratz, Romain Mefflet (Insurance Due Diligence)Equity - PricewaterhouseCoopers, David Willems, Etienne de Quartrebarbes (Financial Due Diligence)Equity - TAJ, Olivier Venzal, Sophie Blégent (Tax)Equity - Weil Gotshal & Manges, Caroline Genevois, Cassandra Porges, Clémentine Baldon, Diana Hund, Emanuel Ringeval, Emmanuelle Henry, Grégoire Andrieux, Maria Trabucchi, Pierre-Arnoux Mayoli (Legal)Vendor - Hawkpoint, Nadim Barouki, Pierre-Arnaud de (Corporate Finance)Vendor - Natixis Finance, Christophe Desjobert, Daniel Giroux (Corporate Finance)