Latour acquires Santiane from BlackFin for €200m EV

The firm is currently investing from its third-generation fund, which held a first close on its target of €800m in December 2019. It primarily takes majority stakes with equity tickets of €30-120m, valued in the €50-300m region.

BlackFin first appointed Cambon Partners to handle the sale of its majority stake in November 2019. Santiane drew interest from several PE firms including Ardian, Bridgepoint, IK, ICG, Eurazeo and Qualium, as well as insurance groups such as Generali, according to a report by Capital Finance published in November.

The business was initially marketed based on €15m EBITDA, with vendors expecting an EBITDA multiple of more than 10x, as reported in February by Unquote sister publication Debtwire.

Indicative offers for the business were submitted in mid-March; however, the incumbent sponsor decided to delay the process due to uncertainties around the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by Unquote sister publication Mergermarket. First-round bids came in below expectations, pushing the sellers to postpone.

Perwyn Private Equity, Montefiore Investment and trade buyer Gnerali all progressed to the second round of the process, along with Latour.

Previous funding
Sagard acquired a minority stake in the insurer from previous shareholder BNP Paribas Private Equity, which had picked it up in 2011.

The acquisition, sealed in September 2013, was the debut deal for Sagard's third vehicle and was believed to value Santiane at more than €40m, according to Unquote Data.

BlackFin acquired the company from Sagard and Santiane's founders and management team in September 2015. The GP drew equity from its €350m second fund, sources confirmed. Although an enterprise value was not provided for Santiane, the vehicle seeks companies valued at €100m or less, while the typical equity ticket sits in the €5-30m range.

Company
Founded in 2007, Santiane is an insurance broker specialising in healthcare and preventative policies. It has 300 employees across its Paris and Nice offices.

People
BlackFin Capital – Eric May (managing director).

Advisers
Vendor – Cambon Partners (corporate finance).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
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• France
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• BlackFin
• Secondary buyout
• Montefiore Investment