AXA PE buys Ouvêo group

AXA will hold a majority stake in the group, and invested via the €355m AXA Expansion II fund. Alliance Entreprendre and FSI Régions have been Ouvêo shareholders since 2004 – they reinvested in the buyout to keep a minority stake. The management team increased its stake in the business.

Debt was arranged by Atlantique Syndication and syndicated to four other banks.

The sale was organised as an auction process run by corporate financier Trianon. AXA had previously been introduced to the deal by Sodica and therefore had a chance to do extensive background work on the business.

The group now aims to increase its geographic reach throughout France, notably in the East.

Debt
The banking syndicate comprised Banque Populaire de l'Ouest, Caisse d'Epargne de Bretagne-Pays de Loire, Banque Courtois and Caisse d'Epargne Aquitaine Poitou-Charente – Ouvêo's historical lenders.

AXA did not encounter obstacles to finance the buyout, with a separate banking pool competing to provide leverage. The debt ratio was kept at a "moderate" level.

Previous funding
Alliance Entreprendre and FSI Régions (then Avenir Gestion) acquired Guigneux SA in 2004. The investors respectively contributed 38.46% of the equity with the Capital Régions FCPR fund and 21.54% with the FCPR Avenir Entreprises 1 fund. Of the €5.5m invested, €600,000 derived from the balance sheet and the remaining €4.9m was equally divided between equity capital and senior debt.

The investors then merged Guigneux with Plastiferm in 2007 to form the Ouvêo group. The business has since then invested to develop its production capabilities and worked on improving its competitiveness.

Company
With roots dating back to 1988, Ouvêo produces and sells a full line of windows for the renovation sector. It sells around 65,000 windows per year and generates revenues in excess of €30m.

People
Baudouin d'Hérouville, Alexis Lavaillote and Caroline Pihan worked on the deal for AXA. Alliance Entreprendre was represented by Laurent Colléatte and Camille Chosseler. Jacques Solleau and Alexis Mahieu led the transaction for FSI Régions.

Advisers
Equity – Sodica CF Midcaps, Agnès Marossero, Carl-Emmanuel Panhard (M&A); De Pardieu Brocas Mafféi, Jean-François Pourdieu, Alexandre Wibaux, Sandra Benhaim (Legal); Arsene Taxand, Mirouna Verban, Brice Picard (Tax); Ernst & Young, Emmanuel Picard, Maxime de Vieth (Financial due diligence); Advention BP, Alban Neveux, Molka Ghezaiel (Commercial due diligence); Marsh, Jean-Marie Dargaignaratz, Yasmine Sour (Insurance due diligence).
Vendors – Trianon CF, Jean-Christophe Coblence, Franck Déaibes (M&A); HPML, Thomas Hermetet, Marie-Laure Pichard (Legal).
Management – Lexco, Arnaud Chevrier, Nicolas Joucla (Legal).

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• Topics
• France
• Industrials
• Exits
• Buyouts
• France
• Axa Private Equity
• Avenir Entreprises
• Secondary buyout
• Partial sale