Bruneau is a leading online retailer of office supplies and equipment.

Equistone exited its majority investment in Bruneau by way of a management buyout in October 2021 and reinvested in a minority position, alongside the management team and TowerBrook Capital Partners, through its dedicated Reinvestment Fund.

Headquartered in Paris since 1955, Bruneau is positioned as a one-stop-shop solution for its B2B customers, offering over 100,000 products including stationery, furniture, electronic equipment, general services and other office accessories.

Bruneau has a strong market position and a well-established reputation for providing high quality service as a result of its e-commerce platform and efficient supply chain, which is supported by over 950 employees across its sales offices, call centres, warehouses and regional distribution centres, serving customers in France, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain.

VALUE CREATION

Equistone initially invested in Bruneau in 2017. Equistone has worked alongside the management team to support organic and external growth, which has resulted in a revenue increase from €320m in 2017 to €485m for the financial year ending 2021.

Three acquisitions were completed during the investment period:

• Entry into the Luxembourg market was achieved through the acquisition of a stake in Muller & Wegener in July 2018;
• Bruneau’s position in Spain was strengthened by the acquisition of Office Depot’s Viking Spain division in October 2020
• Entry into the Italian market was supported through the acquisition of Office Depot Italy in March 2021.

Furthermore, Bruneau has focused on developing its digital capabilities and a selective marketplace strategy to expand its product offering, which has resulted in its range increasing from 35,000 to more than 100,000 products during the investment period.

EXIT

Equistone sold its investment in Bruneau to Towerbrook.

Camusat is a market leader in the construction and management of mobile telecom networks.

Founded in 1948, Camusat primarily designs, installs and maintains telecom towers for mobile network operators (MNOs) and tower companies. Additionally, the business supplies and maintains fibre-optic broadband networks.

Today, Camusat operates in 35 countries and has developed specialist expertise of working in emerging markets, particularly Africa, the Middle East and South East Asia. As a result, Camusat has grown into one of the largest suppliers in these markets and developed its own hybrid generator for telecom towers, e.power, which offers significant energy savings for MNOs and tower companies.

With its unique ability to work in complex and challenging environments, Camusat maintains high quality work, technical know-how and ethical standards in line with international MNOs’ strict processes. The business is supported by a 2,000 strong workforce, 1,000 of whom are based in Africa, as well as a technical support centre based in Romania.

Adista is a provider of telecom, internet and IT managed services in France.

Founded in 1981, Adista provides turnkey telecommunication and IT solutions such as high-speed fibre internet and fully managed remote IT platforms to SMEs in France.

Having made significant gains in market share, Adista has more than 4,000 public sector and SME customers and its high-quality service is supported by over 700 employees, including a technical sales team, across its network of 35 agencies and seven data centres.

VALUE CREATION

Since investment, Equistone has worked in partnership with the management team to support initiatives that have generated organic and external growth and resulted in Adista’s revenue more than doubling from €73m to €165m budgeted 2021.

Operationally, Equistone was instrumental in succession plans to facilitate the two founders intention to retire, as well as the revitalisation of senior management roles through the recruitment of a CEO, COO, CCO, CTO, CFO, HR and legal directors. Significant improvements were also achieved to financial reporting processes and governance.

With Equistone’s support, Adista successfully completed two add-on acquisitions of complementary businesses during the investment period:

• Fingerprint Technologies, a local telecom operator, completed in July 2020;
• Waycom, a B2B IT & telecom service provider, completed in March 2021.

Adista has expanded into IT outsourcing and cloud services, which have gained strong traction and developed into core segments for the group.

EXIT

Equistone sold its investment in Adista to Keensight Capital.

Finaxy Group is a leading French multi-specialist insurance broker.

Focusing on high-value niche markets, Finaxy Group provides commercial and personal insurance services to over 10,000 companies and more than 150,000 individuals.

Its commercial client base includes retail chains, transportation and construction companies, whilst its personal insurance offering covers pets, collectors’ and prestige cars, hunting and works of art as well as luxury goods.

VALUE CREATION

Working in partnership with Equistone, Finaxy Group has continued to achieve external growth through a buy-and-build strategy focused on attractive niche markets, with 16 add-on acquisitions including Assurbike, Olivier Bernard, Anima Solutions and AGEF Courtage completed during the six-year holding period.

Additionally, new partnerships have been established with three large banking and insurance groups.

Equistone has supported Finaxy Group through the transition of restructuring its operational teams, which led to the appointment of a new CFO and new finance, HR and legal teams, as well as the setup of two new offices in Paris and Tours.

Established in 2009, Finaxy Group has grown into one of the top ten insurance brokers in France with over 240 employees and is forecast to achieve revenues of €40m in 2020.

EXIT

Equistone sold its investment in Finaxy Group to Ardian Expansion.

Meilleurtaux is a leading French retail financial services broker.

Founded in 1999 as an online credit broker, Meilleurtaux experienced rapid growth. The business developed its online presence, built a franchise network and established relationships with many of France’s retail banks and insurers.

During the 4-year investment period, Meilleurtaux has strengthened its position as a leading French financial products comparator and broker with a strong brand, a reference website and a network of 250 franchises. The business has diversified from offering mortgage loans and loan insurance into debt consolidation, consumer loans, bank accounts, general insurance and SME loans. As a result, Meilleurtaux has more than doubled its sales from €21m in 2013 to €50m forecast for financial year ending 2016 and employee numbers have grown from some 111 to almost 300.

VALUE CREATION

Equistone has worked alongside Meilleurtaux to support growth and diversification into new business lines with the completion of five add-on acquisitions:

• Bank comparison website, Choisir-ma-banque in May 2014;
• Multi-Impact, loan insurance comparator and broker in September 2014;
• Online debt consolidation specialist, Préféo in January 2016;
• Insurance comparison website, MerciHenri.com, in October 2016;
• Brazil-based Melhortaxa, credit comparator and broker targeting Latin America.

Additionally, the business has launched two new websites to focus on business financing options and savings accounts.

EXIT

Equistone sold its investment in Meilleurtaux, the principle company of Finizy Group, to Goldman Sachs.