Groupe Saint Aubin
A Plus Finance and BNP Paribas Development orchestrated the management buyout of the Saint-Aubin group, which specializes in the production and marketing of fresh and frozen products, both sweet and savory.
Paray-le-Monial, November 20, 2015 – Created by Yves Desbonnet in 1995 and located in Charolais, the Saint Aubin group specializes in the design, the development, the manufacturing and the marketing of fresh and frozen products, both sweet and savory.
The group markets its products via large supermarket chains and out-of-home food channels in France, with 3 B to B brands:
– les Délices de Janice : frozen pastries
– Chapuis Surgelés : frozen salted snacks
– Maison Chapuis : fresh salted products
The group, which generates revenues of more than €20 million, positions itself as a supplier with added value by providing its clients with customized offerings and small series products which enable it to differentiate itself from its mass market competitors. The group also has a significant expertise in the production of frozen Christmas Yule Logs, a huge advantage in view of the forthcoming festive season.
Yves Bonnet, founder of the Saint Aubin group, is stepping down from day-to-day operations, but remains a minority shareholder of the Group. He has chosen Thierry Lafeuille – an experienced professional who has worked at “Coup de Pates” and has known him for the past 10 years – a buyer with great potential who wishes to develop the group’s activities through new channels both in France and at the international level.
For this management buyout, A Plus Finance and BNP Paribas Development created an LBO structure with debt arranged by LCI, which provided the credit facilities for the share capital and convertible debenture stocks.
Thierry Lafeuille, president of the Saint Aubin group, states: “The Company has a very high quality team, a strong capacity for ongoing innovation and flexible and effective manufacturing tools. All these benefits assist the company in achieving an excellent reputation with its clients, suppliers and more generally with key industry stakeholders. Our objective is on the one hand to pursue the strategy in terms of quality products and customer service and on the other hand to achieve new growth on new markets in France as well as on the international level.”
For Yves Desbonnet, founder of the Group:
“It is always very difficult to sell a company that one has built and that represents many years of personal and operational investments. In Thierry Lafeuille I believe I have found a leader who will ensure the continuity in the work accomplished thus far and also open new opportunities for the Group’s development”
Jean Christophe Sampson, head of investment of A Plus Finance adds: “Thanks to significant work with an upstream thinking and an operation plan, we believe we have been able to strike the right balance among the buyer, who is investing a significant amount and will bring great knowledge of the sector, the seller, who remains a significant shareholder and will ensure strategic continuity, and the financial investors. This transaction, in which we are participating through both FIP Bourgogne and FCPR Transmission Partners, which is making its sixth investment, was our first deal entered into in co-investment with BNP Paribas Développement, whose responsiveness and openness were much appreciated.”
– The End –
About A Plus Finance (http://www.aplusfinance.com)
For more than 17 years, A Plus Finance has invested in the real economy through primarily unlisted assets. The poles of expertise within the management company are focused on innovation, buyout capital, real estate, film financing, and funds of funds. Each division has its own team and provides investment vehicles to both individuals and institutional investors.
As of December 31, 2014, assets under management or under advisory rose to €600 million, of which almost one-quarter is for the institutional account.
For more information: http://www.aplusfinance.com
About BNP Paribas Développement
BNP Paribas Développement, a wholly owned subsidiary of the BNP Paribas group, is a capital investment company, which has been acquiring minority interests in the capital of SMEs and ETIs in France for more than 20 years.
Its team is composed of 23 investors located across the country. In 2015, BNP Paribas Développement managed a portfolio of 330 holdings for an invested amount of €600M, which places BNP Paribas Développement as a key benchmark on the risk capital market in France. Its commitment is to assist entrepreneurs with capital requirements over the long term, for transmission projects and growth capital ranging from €1M to €15M.
Press contact details:
A Plus Finance
Agence Steele & Holt
Servane Taslé / Bénie Igiraneza
Tel: +33 1 79 74 80 15 / +33 1 85 08 04 54
Email : servane@steeleandholt.com /
benie@steeleandholt.com
BNP Paribas Développement
Gilles Poncet
Tel: + 33 4 72 56 54 78
Email : gilles.poncet@bnpparibas.com
Advisors et Participants
Investors
A Plus Finance (Jean-Christophe Sampson, Mia Lauranti)
BNP Paribas Développement (Gilles Poncet, Guillaume Danzelle, Guillaume Wolf)
Financière d’Emilie (Yves Desbonnet)
Thop Gourmet (Thierry Lafeuille)
Conseil cédant
SODICA Corporate Finance (Gilles Coudon, Marc-Antoine Olivier)
Legal advice
Legal advice Investors: K&L Gates (Nicola Di Giovanni, Arthur Anton)
Legal advice buyer: Sekri Valentin Zerrouk (Coppelia Burgos, Marie-Caroline Lafond)
Legal advice seller: Cesis Avocats (Alain Zaninetti, Lucie Tondeur)
Audits
Financial audit: Advance Capital (Jean-Charles Geoffroy)
legal audit, taxation, social : Bonna Auzas Avocats (Sigmund Briant)
environmental auditing : ERM (Julien Famy, Amandine Carrage)
Senior Debt Participant
Arranger: LCL (Fabienne Martini, Florence Darves-Blanc)
Crédit Agricole (Patrick Ryckaert)
BNP Paribas (Arnaud Vial, Mélissa Wienczek)
