Butler to sell Anovo to Ingram Micro

Ellie Pullen
27 November 2014

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Butler Capital Partners has received a binding offer from Ingram Micro to acquire Anovo Group, a French provider of after-sales support for the technology sector.

The two parties entered into exclusive negotiations in June. Ingram Micro is a California-based, NYSE-listed electronics and IT company, providing hardware and software products.

Anovo's existing management team will remain in place following the acquisition by Ingram.

Butler is a Paris-based turnaround firm that typically invests €10-50m in French companies with turnover of €50-500m.

Previous investment
Butler acquired Anovo in November 2011 for €22m in an all-equity deal. The firm drew equity for the acquisition from its France Private Equity III fund, which closed in 2005 on €325m.

Anovo had been a public company, listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, before it went into administration in July 2011 and trading of its stock was suspended.

Butler acquired the French operations of the group – the deal did not include Anovo's Italian and Swedish subsidiaries.

In the year before Butler's take-private, Anovo recorded turnover of €343.9m and a €6.7m EBITDA. At the time of Butler's acquisition, the company was loss-making and had expected to post a €5-10m profit in 2012.

Company
Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Suresnes, Anovo is a provider of after-sales support services for high-tech products. It operates within the areas of returns avoidance, product recycling and repair.

The company generated €315m in turnover last year and an EBIT of €9.2m. Anovo is expected to generate revenues of €350m in 2014. It employs 5,100 staff across 11 countries.

According to Butler, revenues have grown by 40% over the last three years, while the number of employees increased by 25%.

People
François Lacombe is the CEO of Anovo. Butler partner Laurent Parquet currently sits on the company's board of directors.