Paris, June 27th , 2019 – LBO France acquired a majority stake in the capital of Eurotab Tabletting. This transaction took place alongside the management team led by Régis Desroches.
The acquisition, carved-out from the Eurotab family group, is part of LBO France’s Small Cap strategy, dedicated to growing small businesses in France and Italy.
The Eurotab group, founded in 1957, is particularly well known for being the specialist in the design and production of detergent tablets (dish-washing, laundry washing, anti-scaling), disinfecting/bleach tablets, and humidity absorbers, with an annual production capacity of over 2.5 billion tablets. The group offers its industrial and retail customers a wide range of products and unique expertise in terms of innovation.
The Eurotab group also has an Industrial Technology division, which manufactures tablets for food processing, home care, and various industrial applications. The tablet market is a growing market, with solid fundamentals, particularly stemming from its ecological nature: compacting (less CO2 for transport and less packaging), no industrial liquid effluents, no preservatives, required dosage, less waste risk and, for most products, the ability to pack products in cardboard packaging and therefore eliminate plastic bottles and tubs in the detergent aisle. Eurotab Tabletting was recently awarded the Pierre Potier Prize for Sustainable Chemistry Innovation for a 96% biodegradable dishwasher tablet of just 12g.
Eurotab Tabletting is made up of four legal entities: Eurotab Opérations in France, Eurotab Avrasia in Turkey, Spaintab in Spain, and Eurotab US in the United States. The head office and two French plants are located in Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert in the Loire (near Saint-Etienne). This entity achieves more than 65% of its revenue abroad, especially thanks to strong market positions in France and Turkey, where it also has a large production site.
Eurotab Tabletting employs over 210 people and earned about €49 million in revenue in 2018, up nearly 15% from 2017.
Eurotab Tabletting’s strategy involves pursuing solid organic growth and carrying out targeted external growth transactions to enable the company to enhance its own expertise and address new geographical areas.
Jean-Marie Leroy, Partner and Head of Small Cap at LBO France, comments: “We’ve been very impressed by Eurotab Tabletting’s management team, industrial expertise, and capacity to innovate. We’re proud to support one of the European leaders in this very promising market. The company has a number of organic and external growth plans. This primary transaction fits perfectly in with our strategy, which consists in assisting in the transfer of family businesses as part of their international development strategy.”
Régis Desroches, former CEO and now Chairman of Eurotab Tabletting, says: “The Desmarescaux family understood early on that the tablet format was the future of the home care market, owing to its ecological profile, and had the intuition to become a specialist in this technology while competitors were more spread out. This vision allows us to have insight into the market, in terms of quality, innovation, and expertise. Our growth is accelerating, and the outlook is exciting, particularly in existing markets and with the re-emergence of laundry detergent tablets. We would like to extend our warm thanks to the Desmarescaux family for giving us the opportunity, through this carve-out, to finance that growth. LBO France was the ideal partner for us, as a genuine recognised specialist in financing and SME growth strategies, especially in the industrial sector. Besides financing and strategy, LBO France will provide us with its CSR and operational support.”
Olivier Desmarescaux, Chairman of the Eurotab Management Board, adds: “The adventure began in 2001, with the purchase of a small tablet-making company; its vision was its biggest asset: the tablet format, in home care, provides significant added value to its users and to the planet. Since then, Eurotab’s Tablets activity has seen its revenues grow eightfold, and created over 160 jobs. This has been achieved through a consistent strategy of investing in innovation, operational proficiency, and teams whose skills and engagement have continued to increase. I wish the best to Eurotab Tabletting, LBO France, Régis Desroches, and his teams. They have everything they need to continue this exciting development. For me, the adventure continues with Eurotab’s Equipment Manufacturing activity, which has a huge potential yet to be explored for its clients.”
Main parties involved in the transaction:
LBO France team: Jean-Marie Leroy, Emmanuel Fiorentino, Philippe Karmin
Linkapital (selling shareholders counsel): Patrick Lissague
Ratheaux (selling shareholders legal counsel): Henri Saint-Père, Valérie Modica
Lamartine (Manager legal counsel): Stéphane Rodriguez, Victoire Bertin-Maier
Jeantet (LBO France legal counsel & legal, fiscal and social due diligence): Philippe Matignon, JeanGuillaume Follorou, Florent Prunet, Pascal Georges, Isabelle Pontal, Blandine Lebreton, Camille Perodeau, Gabriel di Chiara
Vendor financial due diligence: EY (Pascal Rhoumy, Marc-André Audisio, Constance Hauville Pontet, David Cocolomb)
LBO France financial due diligence: Deloitte (Frédérique Chenevoy, Arnaud Guillou, Anias Lee)
LBO France strategic due diligence: Advention Business Partners (Alban Neveux, Iska Pivois, Florent Palin)
Unitranche debt: CIC Private debt (Guillaume Rico, Guillaume Michalet, Antoine Guerillon), ID Invest (François Lacoste, Emmanuelle Tanguy, Victoire Vanheuverswyn), SCOR Investment Partners (Rémy Chupin, Pierre Cousin)
Unitranche debt legal counsel: Nabarro (Jennifer Hinge, Anthony Minziere)
About LBO France
As a key player in private equity with €4bn of capital under management, LBO France is an independent company that has been supporting French and Italian companies in their growth for more than 30 years. Its investment strategy is built on 4 distinct segments managed by dedicated teams: (i) Mid Cap Buyout through the White Knight funds and Small Cap Buyout through the Hexagone/Small Caps Opportunities funds, (ii) Venture Capital through the SISA/Digital Health funds, (iii) Real Estate through the White Stone and Lapillus funds, (iv) Debt. Historically focused on Institutional and Family Office investors, LBO France has recently launched the FCPR White Caps Selection, a private equity fund accessible to individuals through multi-strategy funds. LBO France is 100% owned by its management and employs nearly 60 professionals.
Press contacts:
Agence Shan
Léa Schultz – + 33 1 42 86 82 41 – lea.schultz@shan.fr
Laëtitia Hottinguer – + 33 1 44 50 58 78 – laetitia.hottinguer@shan.fr