IPS(Incendie Protection Securite) (France) - Nov 2007

unquote
01 November 2007

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XAnge Private Equity has acquired 22.6% of fire safety equipment maintenance business IPS through its growth capital fund Xpansion. The private equity firm was invited to invest by MBO Partenaires, which backed the company’s MBO in 2003 and retains 35.1% of the equity following this secondary owner buyout. The company’s CEO partially divested, but remains the largest shareholder with a 40% stake. Lyonnaise des Banques and Banque Rhône-Alpes provided a single tranche of amortising debt. A trade sale to either a building maintenance company, a cleaning business or a competitor are considered possible exit routes.

Company

Based in Chevigny St-Sauveur, the company provides a range of products and services relating to fire safety. The group manufacturers, installs and maintains fire extinguishers, trains personnel, conducts safety audits and distributes fire safety signs. The firm has 1,500 clients and generated a turnover of E9.1m in 2006. The company, which currently employs more than 100 staff, will aim to grow through the acquisitions of competitors with turnovers ranging from E5-20m, providing additional geographic coverage and improving efficiency per technician. The company acquired 3Protection in 2004.

People

Magdalena Svensson and Hervé Schrike worked on the deal for XAnge, while Jérôme de Metz represented MBO Partenaires. Carole Régis arranged the debt for Lyonnaise des Banques, and Patrick Maneuvrier did so for Banque Rhône-Alpes. Patrick Bergdoll is IPS’s CEO.

Advisers

Equity - HPML, Marie-Laure Pichard, Vincent Libaud (Legal)

Sourced from: France unquote" 86 (Nov 2007)