BrazilBCG and Roland Berger advise on Ardian's Finaxy acquisition
French private equity firm Ardian has acquired a majority stake in Finaxy, one of France’s ten largest insurance brokers.
Operating under the ownership of private equity is not new for Finaxy. In the past six years it was majority owned by Equistone Partners Europe, a mid-market private equity firm. Under its direction, Finaxy booked strong growth, expanding into new segments in the B2C and B2B domain, partly on the back of a major acquisition campaign.
Today, the company specialises in insurance services and products to consumers and corporates, while Finaxy also has a third offering dedicated to insurers and the banking segment. “The close teamwork with Equistone has enabled us position the group for strong and ambitious development,” said Erick Berville, the founder and chief executive of the Paris-headquartered insurer. Currently, the group generates sales of around €80 million.
But, “we have now chosen to continue this journey with Ardian and we are delighted to welcome them,” he added. Meanwhile, Equistone looks back at a lucrative exit. According to Mergermarket, the deal values the company at around €160 million, which equates to 15x EBITDA.
With the backing of Ardian, with assets of $100 billion managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia one of the globe’s largest investors, Finaxy plans to accelerate its buy-and-build strategy. Having closed 27 acquisitions since inception in 2009, it means the firm’s dealmakers will be facing a busy period.
The Finaxy deal was supported by among others M&A consultants from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which represented the interests of buyer Ardian. The team consisted of partners Philippe Rémoville, Benjamin Entraygues, Benjamin Sarfati, and project leader, Chloélia Auffret. BCG provided commercial due diligence support.
Meanwhile, at the other side of the table, consultants from Roland Berger provided consultancy services to seller Equistone, which held a 54% stake in Finaxy. The vendor due diligence work was led by senior partner Christophe Angoulvant.
Earlier this year, Ardian called in consultants from L.E.K. Consulting to advise on one of its acquisitions, and last year the likes of Advancy and Kearney were brought in to advise on transactions. One of the group’s portfolio companies is Argon & Co, an international operations and supply chain consulting firm.
“We are convinced by Finaxy's multi-specialist positioning and its potential for growth across its three businesses. We are delighted to support Erick and his teams… and expect further consolidation in this still fragmented market,” said Alexis Lavaillote, a Managing Director at Ardian.
