Equistone indulges with Charles & Alice

The deal saw the company's management team reinvesting in the company and boosting its holding to 20%.

Debt for the deal was arranged by Banque Palatine and CIC Lyonnaise de Banque, and provided by CIC Lyonnaise de Banque, Banque Populaire Provence et Corse and HSBC France.

The investment will be used to expand the company both domestically and internationally.

Company
The company initially started out as two separate entities. The first, founded in 1935 and known initially as Charles Faraud, was based in Vaucluse, specialising in fruit processing. The other was founded in 1976 in Drôme and originally named Hero.

In 2007, CM-CIC took a majority stake in Charles Faraud, backing Thierry Goubault as the company's president. In 2010, the company purchased Hero, a manufacturer of fruit desserts with no added sugar and baby food products. The combined entity was renamed Charles & Alice.

The company employs 350 people across its sites in the Drôme and Vaucluse areas. Last year, Charles & Alice generated a turnover of €120m.

Charles & Alice specialises in fruit desserts, with no added sugar and organic products featuring in its range.

People
Thierry Goubault is president of the company. Frédéric Plas is a director at CM-CIC, while Guillaume Jacqueau is managing partner for Equistone.

Advisers
Equity (Equistone) – SJ Berwin, Thomas Maitrejean, Benjamin Garçon (Legal); KPMG, Vincent Delmas, Jad Barakat (Financial due diligence); Roland Berger, Olivier de Panafieu, Marie Collignon (Commercial due diligence).
Equity (CM-CIC) – Leonardo, Valérie Pélereau, Antoine de Boissoudy (Corporate finance); Philippe Charbonnier (Debt advisory); Duteil avocates, Philippe Fieloux, Gonzague Basso (Legal); Ernst & Young, Marc André Audisio, Alexis Thura, Olivier Deloire (Financial due diligence); LEK, Rémy Ossmann, David Danon-Boileau (Commercial due diligence).
Management – Lamy & associés, Pierre-Jean Ferry (Legal): Ernst & Young, Matthieu Autret (Tax).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• France
• Exits
• Consumer
• Equistone Partners Europe
• CM-CIC Capital Finance
• France