PE-backed Diana completes fourth bolt-on

The acquisition of the assets from Givaudan follows Diana's recent purchase of US food manufacturer Pacific Pure Aid as well as mushroom extracts specialist Arômes de Chacé. This is Diana's fourth build-up since June.

AXA PE originally acquired Diana in May 2007 for €710m (around 12x EBITDA at the time). Vendor Motion Equity (then Cognetas) – which reaped more than 4x its money and an IRR in excess of 60% – reinvested €80m in the SBO as a minority shareholder via its fund Cognetas II.

AXA PE and Motion Equity have continued to support Diana's management throughout the company's consolidation of its market position in several product areas and geographies, including Asia, the US and Eastern Europe.

The private equity backers set up a €50m "payment-in-kind" tranche, financed by JP Morgan Mezzanine and Mezzvest, to finance this latest bolt-on as well as other future acquisitions.

Company
Diana is a supplier of natural ingredients for the food and pharmaceutical industry. Headquartered in Vannes, the company operates in two major sectors: natural vegetable and animal-based extracts via its Diana Végétal and SPI subsidiaries (representing 43% of revenues); and palatability enhancers for pet food through its SPF unit (33% of revenues).

Diana employs 1,500 staff and generates a €392m turnover.

People
Managing director Bruno Ladrière and senior investment manager Daniel Setton worked on the deal for AXA PE. The Diana management team is led by Olivier Suquet.

Advisers
Equity (AXA Private Equity) – Weil Gotshal & Manges, Emmanuel Ringeval, Pierre-Arnoux Mayoly, Alexandre Duguay (Legal); Capital Market Initiative, Thibaut Parayre, Benjamin Weyl (Corporate finance).

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