Transports Citra (France) - Dec 2007

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01 December 2007

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MBO Partenaires has acquired 75% of Transports Citra from the retiring CEO and his family. The deal was sourced through the vendor’s corporate financier Varenne Finance. Société Générale arranged a single tranche debt package, worth 50% of the deal’s value. Caisse d’Epargne also underwrote part of the debt. With the new management still relatively young, a subsequent LBO appears to be a likely exit route.

Company

Citra provides a range of transportation and logistics services, predominantly in the Picardie and Aisne regions. The business, which generated revenues of €40m in 2006 and has ambitions to reach €60-70m within three to four years, hopes to develop its logistics activity, by benefiting from the increasing trend of sub-contracting by larger companies. A geographic expansion into the north and the Paris region will also be pursued, both through the opening of new warehouses and through targeted acquisitions.

People

Eric Dejoie and Julien Wormser worked on the deal for MBO Partenaires. Patrick Evain and Franck Delval arranged the debt for Société Générale, while Pascal Lefort and Anaïs Panier did so for Caisse d’Epargne. Yannick Lamidiaux, the former CEO’s son, takes over as Transport Citra’s new head.

Advisers

Equity - ACA, Olivier Lelong (Financial Due Diligence)Equity - HPML, Velin Valev, Vincent Libaud (Legal)Equity - Verspieren, Laurence Torres (Insurance Due Diligence)Management - Quilvest, Jacques-Edouard Moreau (Corporate Finance)Vendor - Cabinet EFC, Philippe Mage, Thierry Bonafous (Legal)Vendor - Varenne Finance, Jérôme Pivain (Corporate Finance)