Ardian buys Solina from IK

Greg Gille
01 October 2015

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Ardian has entered exclusive negotiations to acquire Solina, a French food ingredients business, from IK Investment Partners.

Ardian is aiming to complete the deal via its latest Mid Cap Buyout fund, which closed on €2.8bn in 2013, following Ardian's spinout from Axa. The deal is still subject to consultation with the relevant French working councils before a definitive agreement can be reached.

Crédit Agricole and Natixis will provide debt to finance the transaction.

Previous funding
Solina was created via the merger of French business Savena and Belgian food producer Sfinc in 2012. IK acquired Savena from Azulis Capital and Céréa Capital in 2011, in what marked the fourth buyout for the company. Equity for the transaction was provided by the IK2007 Fund, which raised €1.7bn at final close in October 2007. Crédit Agricole and BNP Paribas provided senior debt while Alcentra, Céréa Mezzanine and LFPI supported the transaction with mezzanine financing. Azulis and Céréa had acquired Savena from Quartus in October 2007, in a deal believed to have been valued in the €70-90m range.

Ardian is meanwhile no stranger to the asset, as it was originally invested in Belgian food company Sfinc. The GP (then Axa Private Equity) purchased a majority stake in 2008 from Gimv, alongside company management and Axxess Partners. ING and KCB supplied leverage to support the deal.

Savena and Sfinc merged in 2012, leaving IK as majority shareholder of the enlarged Solina group. Crédit Agricole and BNP Paribas arranged a debt package to fund the merger. Mezzanine financing was provided by Alcentra, LFPI and Céréa Gestion.

Since then, Solina completed several add-on acquisitions in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and France, according to IK.

Company
With roots dating back to 1988, Solina is a food ingredients producer active in the fish, meat, nutrition, ready meals and snacks areas. It operates 11 production facilities, several R&D centres and local sales offices. Based in Paris, the company employs 1,000 people and posted a €305m turnover in 2014.

People
Dan Soudry, Rémi Buttiaux, Arnaud Bosc and Thibaut Richard worked on the deal for IK. Ardian was represented by Bruno Ladrière, Mathieu Antonini, Daniel Setton, Emmanuel Miquel and Alexis Manet.

Advisers
Equity – DLA Piper (Legal, tax); BCG (Commercial due diligence); EY (Financial due diligence, tax).
Vendor – Willkie Farr & Gallagher (Legal); BNP Paribas (M&A).