Equistone leads Unither MBO

Previous owner ING Parcom reinvested in the transaction, alongside historical backers CM-CIC Investissement and Picardie Investissement. The three GPs remain minority shareholders.

Equistone was impressed by the company's strategic choices over the past few years. It will look to support Unither's efforts in terms of driving organic growth and making strategic acquisitions.

This is the first investment from the Equistone IV fund, currently being raised with a €1.5bn target.

Debt
AXA Mezzanine provided unitranche financing (senior and subordinated) to leverage the transaction.

Previous funding
ING Parcom led the €75m secondary buyout of Unither from SG Capital in 2006. The buyout house took a majority stake, while previous investors Picardie Investissement and CIC Finance reinvested in the newco.

The deal was leveraged by a €38m debt package underwritten by CIC Scalbert Dupont, which financed the previous buyout, and Capzanine, which arranged the €15m mezzanine facility. The latter syndicated a significant part of the mezzanine credit to AXA Private Equity.

Under ING Parcom's ownership, turnover doubled from €72m to €151m.

Company
Founded in 1993, Unither Pharmaceutical is a provider of contract formulation and packaging to Europe's pharmaceutical companies - notably specialising in eye drops, physiological saline solutions and asthma medications in sterile, unit doses and effervescent tablet formulations.

The Amiens-based business now employs 850 people, up from 500 at the time of ING Parcom's investment.

People
Guillaume Jacqueau, Thierry Lardinois and Stanislas Gaillard led the deal for Equistone. ING Parcom was represented by Denis Le Chevallier, Laurence Bouttier and Vincent Warlop.

Advisers
Equity -Paul Hastings, Olivier Deren, Arnaud Levasseur (Legal, tax); L.E.K., Serge Hovsepian, Arnaud Sergent, Bénédicte Guénégan (Commercial due diligence); Deloitte, Cyril Stivala, Frédérique Chenevoy (Financial due diligence).
Vendors - Aforge, Damien Bachelot, Lamia El Fahli (Corporate finance); Axys Finance, Didier Izabel, Sandrine Chouard (Corporate finance); SJ Berwin, Thomas Maitrejean, Augustin Fleytoux (Legal); Lamartine Conseil, Olivier Renault, Fabien Mauvais (Legal); Roland Berger, Patrick Biecheler, Patrick Lemaire (Commercial due diligence); 8Advisory, Pascal Raidron, Katia Wagner (Financial due diligence, tax); Arsene, Frédéric Teper, Laurent Mamou (Financial due diligence, tax).
Debt - Shearman, Arnaud Fromion (Legal).

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