• Home
  •  
    Regions
    • Europe
    • UK & Ireland
    • DACH
    • Nordic
    • France
    • Southern Europe
    • Benelux
    • CEE
    • Asia
  •  
    Deals
    • Buyouts
    • Venture
    • Exits
    • Refinancings
    • Build-up
    • Turnaround
    • Secondaries
    • Advanced deals search
  •  
    Funds
    • Buyout
    • Venture
    • Mezzanine
    • Debt
    • Funds-of-funds
    • Secondaries
    • Fundraising pipelines
    • Advanced funds search
  •  
    GPs & LPs
    • GP profiles
    • LP profiles
    • GP news
    • LP news
    • Sponsors search
    • LPs search
  •  
    Secondaries
    • Deals
    • Funds
    • News
    • Analysis
  •  
    People
    • People moves
    • Analysis
    • In Profile
    • Q&A
    • Videos
    • Comment
  •  
    Analysis
    • In Profile
    • Fundraising
    • Q&A
    • Comment
    • Videos
    • Podcast
    • Reports
    • Data Snapshots
  •  
    Unquote Data
    • Deals search
    • Exits search
    • Funds search
    • Sponsors search
    • Advisers search
    • LPs search
    • League tables
    • Reports
  • Sign in
  • Sign in
    • You are currently accessing unquote.com via your Enterprise account.

      If you already have an account please use the link below to sign in.

      If you have any problems with your access or would like to request an individual access account please contact our customer service team.

      Phone: +44 (0)203 741 1137

      Email: Georgina.Lawson@acuris.com

      • Sign in
     
      • Newsletters
      • Account details
      • Contact support
      • Sign out
     
  • Follow us
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
  • Free Trial
  • Subscribe
Unquote
Unquote
  • Home
  • Regions
  • Deals
  • Funds
  • GPs & LPs
  • Secondaries
  • People
  • Analysis
  • Unquote Data
  • You are currently accessing unquote.com via your Enterprise account.

    If you already have an account please use the link below to sign in.

    If you have any problems with your access or would like to request an individual access account please contact our customer service team.

    Phone: +44 (0)203 741 1137

    Email: Georgina.Lawson@acuris.com

    • Sign in
 
    • Newsletters
    • Account details
    • Contact support
    • Sign out
 
Unquote
  • Buyouts

Astorg sells Audiotonix to Ardian

  • Katharine Hidalgo
  • Katharine Hidalgo
  • 16 December 2019
  • Tweet  
  • Facebook  
  • LinkedIn  
  • Google plus  
  • Send to  

Astorg has sold a majority stake in electronic music equipment designer and manufacturer Audiotonix to Ardian.

The deal is reported to value the company at €1bn. The company's management, as well as Astorg, will reinvest as part of the transaction.

Astorg had been planning to auction off Audiotonix in 2020 and had been contacted by around six interested parties from the private equity sector; however, Ardian pre-empted the process by making its offer, according to Unquote sister publication Debtwire.

Audiotonix

  • DEAL:

    SBO

  • VALUE:

    £1bn

  • LOCATION:

    Chessington

  • SECTOR:

    Electrical components & equipment

  • FOUNDED:

    2014

  • TURNOVER:

    $155.13m (2017)

  • EBITDA:

    £55m (2018)

  • STAFF:

    550

  • VENDOR:

    Astorg

Audiotonix is the first realisation from Astorg VI, which closed on €2.1bn in 2016, according to Unquote Data. During the firm's holding period, the group launched a series of new products and acquired SSL and Klang.

The company refinanced its £31m second lien tranche provided by MV Credit with senior debt in June 2018. As part of the refinancing, $57m's worth of preference shares were redeemed and $7m in dividends was paid through an increase of the first lien, according to Debtwire.

Previous funding
Epiris acquired Allen & Health from trade player D&M Holdings for £43m in 2013. In 2014, the firm acquired Calrec from the same vendor for £14m and merged the two portfolio companies to form Audiotonix.

Later in 2014, Epiris acquired Digicio from Livingbridge and Mobeus Equity Partners for more than £50m and merged the company with Audiotonix.

Epiris sold the combined company to Astorg in 2017, generating a 4.8x return, representing an IRR of 51%. The deal valued the company at around £203m, according to Unquote sister publication Mergermarket. A group of banks, including Bank of Ireland, NIBC, Crédit Agricole, Mediterranean, HSBC and MV Credit, arranged a £172m senior debt package to support the deal, according to Debtwire.

Company
Chessington-headquartered Audiotonix designs and manufactures audio mixing consoles for live events, music recording and broadcast. Its brands, which include Allen & Heath, Calrec, Digico, DiGiGrid, Klang:technologies and Solid State Logic, support live sound for a variety of formats such as concerts, TV, theatre shows and live events. The company employs around 550 people.

Founded in 2014, the company generated EBITDA of around £55m in March 2019, according to Debtwire. It reported annual revenues of $155.13m and a net profit of $9.26m in March 2018.

People
Ardian – Olivier Personnaz, Bruno Ladrière (managing directors).
Astorg – François de Mitry (managing partner); Stéphane Epin (partner).
Audiotonix – James Gordon (CEO).

  • Tweet  
  • Facebook  
  • LinkedIn  
  • Google plus  
  • Send to  
  • Topics
  • Buyouts
  • Exits
  • UK / Ireland
  • Industrials
  • United Kingdom
  • Astorg Partners
  • Ardian (formerly Axa PE)
  • Secondary buyout

More on Buyouts

Clinical trials and biotechnology
Permira to take Ergomed private for GBP 703m

Sponsor deploys Permira VIII to ride new wave of take-privates; Blackstone commits GBP 200m in financing for UK-based CRO

  • Buyouts
  • 04 September 2023
EMEA Public to Private M&A
Change of mind: Sponsors take to de-listing their own assets

EQT and Cinven seen as bellweather for funds to reassess options for listed assets trading underwater

  • Investments
  • 04 September 2023
HR software solutions providers
Main Capital’s Assessio to be sold to Pollen Street

Recruitment software company tripled in revenue under Main Capital’s ownership

  • Buyouts
  • 25 August 2023
Ice cream
Exponent divests ‘significant' stake in Meadow to Canadian investor

Since 2018, GP has diversified food ingredients company's focus beyond commodity dairy

  • Exits
  • 22 August 2023

Latest News

Fund closes in US dollars
  • Funds
Stonehage Fleming raises USD 130m for largest fund to date, eyes 2024 programme

Multi-family office has seen strong appetite, with investor base growing since 2016 to more than 90 family offices, Meiping Yap told Unquote

  • 05 September 2023
Clinical trials and biotechnology
  • Buyouts
Permira to take Ergomed private for GBP 703m

Sponsor deploys Permira VIII to ride new wave of take-privates; Blackstone commits GBP 200m in financing for UK-based CRO

  • 04 September 2023
Public sector software
  • Exits
Partners Group to release IMs for Civica sale in mid-September

Sponsor acquired the public software group in July 2017 via the same-year vintage Partners Group Global Value 2017

  • 04 September 2023
EMEA Public to Private M&A
  • Investments
Change of mind: Sponsors take to de-listing their own assets

EQT and Cinven seen as bellweather for funds to reassess options for listed assets trading underwater

  • 04 September 2023
Back to Top
  • About Unquote
  • Advertise
  • Contacts
  • About Acuris
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Group Disclaimer
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

© Merger Market

© Mergermarket Limited, 10 Queen Street Place, London EC4R 1BE - Company registration number 03879547

Digital publisher of the year 2010 & 2013

Digital publisher of the year 2010 & 2013