Siparex sells Silfox stake to Isatis

José Rojo
21 January 2016

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French VC Siparex has exited its minority stake in electronic component manufacturer Silfox to SME investor Isatis Capital

An unquote" source revealed Isatis secured a stake in the 20-40% region, while the company's management team will keep a majority stake.

The executives became the majority shareholders in 2013, when Siparex invested from its regional arm Siparex Proximité Innovation to support Silfox's transition from its founder Alain Moucheront to the management team.

The VC, which reportedly held a 30% stake, has now fully exited that holding but also re-invested a minor amount of equity alongside Isatis, the same source said. In addition, Siparex will be providing mezzanine via its dedicated unit Siparex Intermezzo.

Negotiations for the deal kicked off in June 2015, when Isatis was contacted by M&A adviser Financière de Courcelles.

Initially, the SME investor was one among several suitors; competition was quickly left behind when Isatis provided a list of bolt-on opportunities to Silfox's management team, keen to grow the company via a build-up plan. As of late January, some of these bolt-on targets have already been contacted in the run-up to an acquisition, unquote" understands.

The deal, the fifth to be financed by Isatis Développement 2, is the second to involve Isatis and Siparex in the space of six months. In late July, Isatis was also on the buy-side when it backed the MBI of swimming pool designer Lermite, marking an exit for shareholders Sogero Gestion and Siparex.

Debt
Aside from mezzanine from Siparex, the deal featured a senior package arranged by Societe Generale, with debt coming from Bred Banque Populaire and Crédit Agricole Brie Picardie.

Company
Founded in 1992, and headquartered in Moissy Cramayel, Silfox distributes thermal interfaces, heat dissipaters and fans to Siemens, Alcatel, Bosch and Philips, among other clients. The company most recently posted €10m in revenues.

People
Isatis Capital – Nicholas Schwindenhammer (investment director).
Silfox – Stéphane Jouannaud (CEO).