A Plus et al. create tourism group with Vedettes bolt-on

As part of the takeover, Vedettes du Pont Neuf will become a subsidiary of France Tourisme. The purchase will allow the latter to incorporate river cruise tours to its offering, currently focused on sightseeing bus trips in Paris.

Contacted by unquote", a source familiar with the situation revealed that both businesses represent an estimated €35-40m in enterprise value. The post-acquisition group will employ around 120 people and generate sales in the €20m region.

According to the source, the figures place it as the second largest actor within the Parisian tourism scene; the leading name is Cityvision, a group in the hands of Ekkio Capital since LBO France divested the asset in June 2015.

France Tourisme CEO Ghislain de Richecour, who fully controlled the business prior to the deal, will remain as majority owner of the new group. BPI France will follow with a significant minority stake, while GP duo A Plus Finance and UI Gestion have secured smaller, equal minority holdings.

According to the unquote" source, the deal was prompted by de Ricocheur, who approached Vedettes du Pont Neuf's family owners Xavier and Eric Levavasseur towards the end of Q3 2015.

The brothers were nearing retirement age, with no apparent successor in the family to take over the business. Once de Ricocheur had made its move, negotiations kicked off between both sides and took six months to complete, the source added.

Leading the deal, BPI France drew equity from France Investissement Tourisme, a tourism-focused fund that launched with a €100m target in October 2015. Investing an average of €500,000-5m per deal, the fund has so far backed Parisian youth hostel operators France Hostels and Lyon-headquartered peer New Nomads. 

Debt
CM-CIC arranged a senior package in support of the bolt-on, featuring debt from Banque Populaire Rives de Paris, Banque Cantonale de Genève and BPI France Financement. The deal was leveraged at around 2x France Tourisme's EBITDA, unquote" understands.

Company
Founded in 1959, Vedettes du Pont Neuf organises river sightseeing tours in Paris. The company offers trips along the river Seine and adjoining canals via six different subsidiaries: Vedettes du Pont Neuf, Canauxrama, Canauxgest, Tourigest, Escal'PontNeuf and la Marina de Paris. Run by a 20-strong workforce, the group most recently posted €7m in revenues.

Meanwhile, France Tourisme was created in 1999 and has since specialised in sightseeing buses in Paris and day trips to neighbouring Versailles and the Loire castles. The company employs 57 staff and generated €13m in sales in 2015.

People
UI Gestion – Antoine Bertin (investment director); François Gressant (associate director).
A Plus Finance – Romain Bled (investment director); Mia Lauranti (investment manager).
BPI France – Jessica Barbé (investment manager); Serge Mesguich (head of tourism and leisure).
France Tourisme – Ghislain de Richecour (CEO).
Vedettes du Pont Neuf – Xavier Levavasseur (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Lamartine, Fabien Mauvais, Camille Le Foyer de Costil (legal); Crowe Horwath, Marc de Prémare, David Kharoubi (financial due diligence); ACA Nexia, Hervé Krissi, Hervé Téran (financial due diligence); FL Finance & Développement, Pierre de Sury (corporate finance); Richelieu Avocats, Guillaume Marguet, Grégoire Tonnelle (legal).
Company – CM-CIC Corporate Advisory, Laurent Lefebvre, Elisa Valdes (corporate finance); Claris Avocat, Manfred Noé, Clémentine Rieu (legal).

 

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• Topics
• Expansion
• Consumer
• France
• France
• Acquisition finance
• A Plus Finance
• BPI France
• UI Gestion
• Build-up