Paris, March 2 nd, 2016 – LBO France today announced the sale of the three L’OpenTour of Lyon, Nice and Marseille, being the last three assets of Tourexcel Group.
Through these operations, LBO France completely exits from Tourexcel Group. It follows the sale by Tourexcel Group of SLT (Société des Lignes Touristiques) and SELT (Société d’Exploitation des Lignes Touristiques), the two companies operating L’OpenTour Paris, to RATP Développement and the sale of Cityvision Group and La Marina de Bercy by LBO France to Ekkio Capital in June 2015.
These three entities, which are leading companies in open-top hop-on hop-off bus tours in their regions, were sold separately:
– L’OpenTour Lyon: the minority shareholder and manager Olivier Michel became a 100% shareholder,
– L’OpenTour Marseille: a MBI was organized with Julien Guedj, a local industrialist and founder of Hello Shuttle, a transport company running shuttle services between the airports of Marignane and Marseille, supported by Midi Capital,
– L’OpenTour Nice: the minority partner Gilles Hervouet became a majority shareholder alongside an industrialist of the sector, the transport company Bonnafoux-Brémond.
Before these sales, Tourexcel Group operated three main business lines: (1) L’OpenTour, open-top hop-on hop-off bus tours in Paris and three country towns, (2) Cityvision, motor coach and minibus excursions and (3) La Marina de Bercy, diner cruises on the Seine. Since its acquisition by LBO France in 2008, Tourexcel Group has strengthened its position as Paris’ market leader in tourist transportation by constantly increasing its revenue and passenger numbers, with 2 million visitors in 2014.
Dominik Zwerger, Director, LBO Small Cap Hexagone, LBO France:
“We are happy to have helped the managers taking over these open-top hop-on hop-off bus sightseeing tours activities in French regions as their development will be boosted thanks to their local management. These sales complete our exit from Tourexcel Group, after seven years, and confirm our original view: the Group’s assets, L’OpenTour Paris as well as Cityvision and La Marina, have become strategic tourism actors which are today ideally positioned to play an active part in the consolidation of their respective segments in the years to come, with the support of their new shareholders.”
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About LBO France
As a key player in private equity with € 4.5bn of capital raised, LBO France is an independent company which has been supporting French companies in their growth for more than 30 years. Its strategy is based on four investment approaches in non-listed companies, managed by dedicated teams: (i) Mid Cap private equity via the White Knight funds, (ii) Small Cap private equity via the Hexagone funds, (iii) real estate via the White Stone and Lapillus vehicles, (iv) discounted debt. LBO France is 100% owned by its management and has more than 50 professionals.
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