Safic-Alcan is a global distributor of speciality chemicals.

Founded in 1847, Safic-Alcan has a well-established leading market position in Europe, having built longstanding relationships with chemical manufacturers. 

The group distributes a diverse range of innovative material and additives, which are used to strengthen the technical characteristics of its customers’ products in a variety of end-market applications such as rubber, coatings, cable manufacturing, paints and inks, which represent two-thirds of the business, as well as life sciences including the pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, foods and personal care industries.

Headquartered in Paris, the group has a global presence with over 645 employees based in 31 locations across 60 countries and plays a significant role in the value chain by offering product research and development, logistics, packaging, marketing, formulation advice and sales support.

Acces Industrie is a leading French rental specialist of aerial work platforms and handling equipment.

Acces Industrie provides a wide range of short- and long-term rental solutions and has a large fleet of over 12,000 aerial work platforms and handling equipment, which can be used indoors and outdoors to meet customer site constraints such as space, building height, or access to power supply. Its fully integrated services include technical support, refurbishment, on-site delivery and collection, financing, and customer services.

Headquartered in Tonneins, southwestern France, Acces Industrie has established a nationwide network of 38 depots in France and four in Spain and offers convenient, local service to over 6,000 loyal and well-diversified customers in end markets, including construction, industrial, retail, and logistics.

VALUE CREATION

Equistone has worked closely with the management team to support its strategic plans to focus on end markets that benefit from macro trends such as global energy transition, e-commerce and infrastructure.

Its geographic presence has expanded across France, with the opening of new strategically positioned depots and through its acquisition of Watine Manutention in October 2023. 

Equistone also supported Acces Industrie with its entry into the Spanish market, with the acquisition of Uping in 2022. Following this acquisition, new depots are in the process of being opened in Spain. The group has also expanded its offering at each of its existing depots to meet customer demand in fast growing sectors.

Operational improvements have notably included strengthening the team with the appointment of a new CFO, as well as the creation of new roles for a head of pricing & yield management and a head of marketing.

As a result, the group has increased its workforce from 442 to 650 people and revenue has grown from €90m in 2020 to €140m in 2023.

EXIT

Equistone sold its investment in Acces Industrie to Delmas Investissements & Participations, a French family investment group.

Vulcain Engineering Group is a leading French engineering consultancy group.

Founded in 1998, Vulcain specialises in the nuclear power, energy, pharmaceuticals and transportation sectors. Its highly qualified engineers provide expertise and specialist knowledge, primarily for large-scale projects, in the design, engineering, procurement, commissioning and construction phases of power plants, railways or energy distribution infrastructure and liquefied gas vessels or installations, as well as in the commissioning of production lines for vaccine producers in the pharmaceutical sector.

Since acquisition, the group’s revenue has increased from €161m in 2019 to €370m, and its workforce expanded to some 4,000 employees.

VALUE CREATION

Equistone has worked closely with the management team to support Vulcain’s transformation into a fully integrated European engineering group and its mission to assist its customers in designing, building, and maintaining infrastructure more sustainably and responsibly.

As part of this, the group has decreased its activities in upstream oil to less than 1% of revenues in favour of pursuing opportunities in renewables, hydrogen, electricity transportation, natural liquefied gas infrastructure, and carbon capture solutions either organically or through selective add-on acquisitions. Its focus on ESG has been recognised, with the group achievinga gold medal in the EcoVadis ranking for two years in succession.

Equistone has leveraged its European network to support the expansion of the group’s international footprint and strengthen its presence in key markets, with 19 strategic acquisitions completed across eight countries, including the UK, Benelux, Switzerland and Finland, as well as new territories in Germany, Canada, Denmark, Spain and the Middle East.

EXIT

Equistone sold its investment in Vulcain Engineering Group to a consortium of investors led by Ardian, in association with Tikehau Capital and EMZ and supported by Bpifrance, Amundi and the Fonds France Nucléaire, managed by Siparex.

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.

Webhelp is a market leader in outsourced call centres.

The group demonstrated strong growth and doubled its sales in 18 months with the opening of two additional sites in France and Morocco.

In June 2007, Astorg acquired a shareholding in Webhelp alongside management, and Equistone decided to keep a minority position in the new transaction. Webhelp has continued to enlarge its client portfolio and develop its high quality specialist brand image.

EXIT

Equistone sold its minority stake to Charterhouse.