Blackstone acquires Alliance Automotive from Weinberg

The deal marks a total exit for Weinberg, which backed a management buyout of Alliance through a limited auction process in 2006, for a price believed to be around €300m, according to unquote" data.

Fuelled by organic growth and more than 30 acquisitions – including a deal for France's Précisium Groupe last year – revenues for Alliance more than doubled under Weinberg's ownership, from €540m in 2006 to €1.2bn in 2013.

Previous funding
Weinberg originally acquired Alliance, then Alliance Industrie, via auction in 2006. European Capital provided €19m in mezzanine financing for the management buyout, while RBS provided both senior and mezzanine debt in the estimated €300m deal.

In 2013, the company issued an €185m private high-yield bond to further finance Alliance's buy-and-build strategy, syndicated to a small group of investors.

Company
Founded in 1989, Alliance is a wholesale distributor of auto parts in France and the UK, operating under the brands Groupauto France, Groupauto UK, Précisium, and Partners.

The company has 1,500 outlets, employs 3,500 staff and is headquartered in Paris.

People
Jean-Jacques Lafont is the chairman and one of the founders of Alliance. Lionel Assant is the head of European private equity for Blackstone. Weinberg partner Philippe Klocanas worked on the deal for the vendor.

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• Topics
• Exits
• Buyouts
• France
• Secondaries
• Consumer
• France
• Weinberg Capital Partners
• Blackstone Group
• Secondary buyout