Ardian's Trescal bolts on two

Ellie Pullen
01 July 2014

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Ardian-backed Trescal, a French calibration services provider, has acquired US business Master Metrology and the Italian metrology assets of Gefran.

Ardian invested additional equity to fund the acquisitions.

Trescal paid €1.45m for Gefran's calibration and certification services, namely its Accredited Calibration Laboratory 011. It will be merged with Trescal's existing laboratory in Brescia.

The two acquisitions are the fifth and sixth bolt-ons by Trescal since it came under Ardian's ownership in June last year. In October, the company acquired Santa Clara-based SE Laboratories. This was followed by the acquisitions of US firms Instrument Calibration Services and Test Equipment Repair Corporation in April this year.

Previous funding
Ardian (then Axa Private Equity) paid €250m to buy an 82% stake in the asset last year. The firm acquired the business from 3i, which reaped a 2x return from the sale.

3i had acquired a 62% stake in the business in 2010, alongside TCR Capital as a minority shareholder, from Astorg Partners. The deal valued Trescal at €110m, with 3i investing €36m in the SBO.

The company carried out four bolt-ons under 3i's ownership and saw its turnover increase from €110m to €157m, while its EBITDA rose from €11m to €23m.

Companies
Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Maryland, Master Metrology is a metrology lab that specialises in mechanical gauge calibration, electronic test equipment calibration and instrument repair. The business employs 15 staff and generates turnover of $2m.

Gefran's Italian metrology laboratory was established in 1981 in Provaglio d'Iseo. It employs five staff and generated turnover of €740,000 last year. The laboratory specialises in the calibration of instruments to measure temperature, pressure and relative humidity.

People
Thibault Basquin, a managing director in Ardian's mid-cap buyout team, worked on the deal alongside Yann Bak, Arnaud Tardan and Edouard Level. Raymond Wood is the founder and president of Master Metrology; Maria Chiara Franceschetti is the group CEO of Gefran.

Advisers
Acquirer – Hooper Hathaway, Jim Beuche (Legal); Alvarez & Marsal, Cardell McKinstry, Jamie Bowden (Tax); EY, Laurent Majubert, Jérôme Cazauvieilh (Financial due diligence); Curti Prati Pappalardo, Michele Prati, Alessandro Pappalardo (Legal); Tetra Studio, Marco Cenedella (Tax); Audirevi, Marco Roncalli (Financial due diligence).