Click here for printer friendly page
Apax Partners, LBO France to acquire Maisons du Monde07/04/2008. Source: AltAssets. 
 Apax Partners in France and LBO France have agreed to acquire a majority stake in French home decoration and furniture retailer Maisons du Monde from Barclays Private Equity and iXEN Partners. The company's management team will retain a 20 per cent stake, whilst iXEN, a shareholder since 2005, will also retain its minority interest. Financial details were not disclosed.
Maisons du Monde owns 175 stores across France, Belgium, Spain and Italy. The company launched a Europe-wide e-commerce site two years ago. In 2007 Maisons du Monde posted sales of €230m, according to a statement.
Barclays completed a €150m MBO of Maisons du Monde in July 2005.
Jean-Louis Rambaud, partner, Apax, said, 'Maisons du Monde is a fast-growing company backed by a unique retail concept and a very high quality management team. It is a perfect example of our sector-focused strategy. We are delighted to provide our support to the company over the coming years and contribute to its growth in France and internationally.'
Robert Daussun, chairman, LBO France, added, 'This transaction was realised within a challenging financial environment, demonstrating clearly that investors and financial providers can indeed transact on quality deals benefiting from a clear strategy, strong growth and proven management team. This marks the return to strong fundamentals.'
Apax France currently manages €2bn in funds and focuses on investing in tech and telecom, retail and consumer, media, healthcare and business and financial services sectors. The most recent investments in the retail and consumer sector include Royer (French leader in shoe brands and licenses management) in March 2007 and U10 (supplier of the international distribution for household goods and garments) in November 2007.
LBO France's recent deals have included the 2006 acquisition of Cegelec, a European speacialist in electrical services, and the acquisition of Consolis, a European speacialist in pre-cast concrete. LBO France manages three funds in private equity: one for small-cap LBOs (Hexagone), a fund for LBOs with an enterprise value in the €100m-to-€2.5bn range (White Knight) and a real estate fund (White Stone).
Copyright © 2008 AltAssets
|
