ECM

Date of Investment : Oct 2003

Sales at Entry :EUR 40 m

Transaction type : Secondary Buyout

Project : Organic growth (global expansion through substitution)  + Organizational transformation

ECM designs and manufactures industrial heat treatment equipment. Pursuant to its acquisition by Astorg, the company has been entirely refocused on low pressure carburizing furnaces, where it enjoys a global leadership position, and which are used to harden the surface of metallic parts. ECM sells mainly to car manufacturers or their suppliers. With a sharper strategic focus and a major transformation of the company's structures and processes, ECM is well positionned to ride the substitution of older "high pressure" technologies by its state-of-the-art low pressure carburizing cells.

MECATHERM

Date of Investment : Dec 2003 to Dec 2004

Date of Exit : Apr-2006

Sales at Entry :EUR 48m

Sales at Exit :EUR 75m

Transaction type : Take Private - Buyout 

Project : Organic growth (new geographies and new segments penetration)

Mecatherm is the world leader in large integrated production lines of white bread, "baguette", and other bakery products (fresh or frozen, baked or pre-baked). Customers are large industrial bakeries worldwide :  75% of sales are made  outside of France. Upon Astorg's entry, the company's founder has handed the management of the company over to his n°2, ensuring a smooth transmission of the business. The company was taken 100% private in December 04, and will continue to grow organically through the acquisition of market shares in new segments and geographies.

CIS  

Date of Investment : July 2004

Date of Exit : September 2006

Sales at Entry :EUR 70 m

Sales at Exit :EUR 85.4m

Transaction type : Buyout 

Project : Buy and Build strategy

CIS is the French leader in water and heat metering for collective housing. Its business is to rent, read and maintain meters on long term contracts for its clients, which are equally divided between public and private property managers. CIS enjoys a network of 47 branches, mainly located in the North of France, the Paris area, the Rhône valley and Brittany. Astorg intends to broaden the geographic and product scope of the CIS through the acquisition of add-on companies.

GEOSERVICES 

Date of Investment : July 2005

Sales at Entry :EUR 220 m

Transaction type : Buyout 

Project :  Organic growth  + organizational transformation

Geoservices Created in 1958, Geoservices is a prominent service provider in the oil & gas industry (upstream sector) with 4 main businesses. It enjoys a worldwide leadership position in mud logging services, which consists in providing real time information during drilling for :

o        Optimisation and surveillance of drilling operations (cost, safety & environment),

o        Evaluation (understanding of reservoir characteristics),

Geoservices position derives from its first class reputation, strong differentiation on know how, technology and ability to provide that service in extremely difficult conditions. The company serves its oil & gas company clients worldwide through a network of District Offices and Bases in over fifty countries, covering all the main areas where oil or gas are to be found. Geoservices will seek to continuously optmimize its portfolio of activities, focusing on strengths and potentiallty adding further niche segment through occasional add-on acquisitions.

ONDULINE

Date of Investment : March 2006

Sales at Entry : EUR 280 m

Transaction Type : OMBO

Project :  Organic growth in Eastern Europe and emerging countries

Created in 1944, the group is comprised of two separate businesses: Onduline, specialized in lightweight materials, mainly made of cellulose and bitumen, for roofing, under-roofing and weatherproofing, and Celluloses de la Loire, specialized in trays and honeycombed packing inserts made from cellulose, used in the packaging and transport of eggs. Through Onduline, the group is active in 25 countries, where it operates commercial agencies, and counts 10 production facilities over the world. 

STACI

Date of Investment : Oct. 2006

Sale at Entry : EUR 84m

Transaction Type : OMBO

Project :  Organic growth and external growth

Created in 1989, Staci is the French leader in logistics services for non commercial products. It offers its customers, mainly large companies with extensive networks,an externalized logistics service for documents and support materials used in recurring and promotional marketing. Staci is also the French leader in document delivery logistics for travel agent networks through its subsidiary Logimail, acquired in June 2006. Groupe Staci is established in France, Belgium and Poland.

WEBHELP

Date of Investment : June  2007

Sale at Entry : EUR 80m

Transaction Type : OMBO

Project : organic growth and build-up

Created in 2000 Webhelp is the leader of French-speaking offshore call centers. The company is an innovative player in the customer relationship management market by combining a multi-channel approach (telephone, chat, call back, SMS, email, fax and mail) with a multi-service offering (pre-sales, sales, after-sales services, technical support etc.). Webhelp provides a full range of value-added customer relationship services to the leading groups in telecommunications and internet services.

Webhelp currently employs 3 600 people in 3 locations: Morocco (2 800 people in 8 centers in Rabat and Fez), France (500 people in 2 centers in Caen and the head office) and Romania (300 people in 2 centers in Bucharest and Galati).

Webhelp has become within a few years one of the top players of the French-speaking call center market due to its anticipation and continuous innovation. Webhelp’s objectives are to consolidate its competitive position as leader in the offshore French-speaking call center, continue to diversify client base into other industry sector (financial services, insurance, retail, utilities) and expand and diversify the business into complementary and synergetic activities of CRM either through organic growth or through acquisition.

TRESCAL

Date of Investment : November  2007

Sale at Entry : EUR 72m

Transaction Type : Spin-off

Project : organic growth and external growth

Trescal, a former division of Air Liquide that has been built through successive acquisitions since 1999, is the European leader in metrology services (test, calibration, repair, preventive and corrective maintenance, management of measurement equipments…). Trescal operates 30 laboratories and employs more than 700 people in Europe (France, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden) servicing 15 000 customers mainly in the electronics, aerospace, defence and car industries