Sagard buys Stokomani from Advent

Greg Gille
03 May 2012

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Sagard Private Equity has acquired French discount wholesaler Stokomani from Advent International, a transaction valued at €200-210m.

The investment was made via the Sagard II fund, which closed on €808m in 2006. The vehicle is now 75% invested.

Sagard had been following the business for two years. It initially approached Advent with a pre-emptive offer but the vendor declined, choosing instead to organise an auction process run by Rothschild. The auction attracted most French mid-cap players and lasted for nearly a year.

Debt
The company's historical lenders, BNP Paribas, Société Générale and LCL, arranged a senior debt package worth up to €96m. AXA Private Equity arranged a €22m mezzanine tranche alongside Euromezzanine.

Previous funding
Advent acquired a majority stake in Stokomani in 2007 – a deal thought to have valued the business at around €150m. The vendor, Alpha Associés Conseil, made around 6x its money. LCL and Calyon underwrote the €67m senior debt package, while AXA and Euromezzanine provided the €20m mezzanine facility.

Under Advent's ownership, headcount increased from 460 to 1,250 while revenues more than doubled from €82m to €200m. Stokomani now operates 37 stores, compared with 18 in 2007. Advent declined to comment on the multiple generated with this exit.

Company
Compiègne-based Stokomani is a specialist discounter of end-of-line products. Operating a network of 37 stores, Stokomani offers a range of brand name goods at attractive prices in the clothing, sportswear, beauty & healthcare, homeware or toy sectors. The company generates a €200m turnover.

People
Frédéric Stolar led the deal for Sagard. Pascal Stefani represented Advent. Jean-Jacques Namani is president of Stokomani.

Advisers
Equity – Calyon, Stéphane Barret, Virginie Grouselle, Pietro Sibille (M&A); Weil Gothshal & Manges, David Aknin, Cassandre Porgès, Gauthier Elies, Edouard de Lamy (Legal, tax); STC, Christian Nouel, Stéphanie Desprez, Corinne Diez, Alexis Frasson-Gorret (Legal, tax); KPMG, Mathieu Wallich-Petit, Vincent Delmas, Fabien Thieblemont (Financial due diligence); KEA, Christophe Burtin, Olivier Tézenas du Montcel (Commercial due diligence); URS, Bertrand Latrobe (Environmental due diligence); Cavaro Conseil, Christian Mergier (Insurance due diligence).
Vendor – Rothschild, Laurent Baril, Frank Cygler (M&A); KPMG, Axel Rebaudieres (Financial due diligence); Roland Berger, Delphine Mathez (Commercial due diligence); Mayer Brown, Xavier Jaspar, Olivier Aubouin (Legal).
Company – Lazard, Isabelle Xoual, Yann Dever (M&A).
Management – HPML, Vincent Libaud (Legal).