09 February 2022

Colocatère x Omnium Finance

Cession

Secteur Financial Services

Omnium Finance and Colocatère have announced a merger, demonstrating their shared desire to strengthen their leadership in the wealth management sector.

Client Colocatère

Founded in 2011 by three partners, Loig Lemeilleur, Christophe Baudat, and Sébastien Champion, the Colocatère Group specializes in rental investment dedicated to shared accommodation, based on three business lines: the development of turnkey investment projects in shared accommodation; management; and finally, the activity of property dealer. The company is the first group specializing in shared accommodation and is present in 30 large and medium-sized French cities. It employs 140 people and distributes its services mainly through asset management consultants.

Contrepartie Omnium Finance

Founded in 1992 by Xavier Chausson, Omnium Group, with its original distribution model, has become a benchmark in the wealth management sector. Omnium Finance helps private clients prepare for their future and that of their loved ones through its Stellium (an expert in wealth management solutions), Imodeus (a real estate developer) and Prodémial (a structure dedicated to the professionalization of its network of independent wealth consultants) brands. Precursor at the beginning in the distribution of the rental real estate (Stellium Immobilier), the distribution in the life insurance came to supplement the range since 1999, with Stellium Courtage. Financial investments have found their place in the product offer with the obtaining of the status of ISP (Investment Services Provider) with a dedicated subsidiary, Stellium Invest, in 2012. Finally, the professionalization of their consultants' work led them to create their own Training Centre (Prodémial Business School) in 2012 as well as a specific subsidiary, Prodémial (2015), dedicated to animation and support of consultants. The last subsidiary created in 2019, Stellium Financement, positions itself as a financing broker for its consultants, in the real estate projects and SCPI shares of their investors.

The Omnium Finance group, a major player in the distribution of investment solutions, is buying 55% of the capital of the Colocatère group, a benchmark in coliving. This merger will enable Omnium Finance to diversify and strengthen its expertise in old property and the Colocatère group to strengthen its financial base and accelerate its national deployment.

A forerunner in shared accommodation…

Present on the market for more than 10 years, Colocatère offers private investors the opportunity to manage their rental investment projects in old buildings: their approach integrates the entire value chain around the property, including its sourcing, transformation, fitting out, and finally its rental management. By 2021, Colocatère has completed nearly 300 projects, bringing the total number of rental units under management to 2,700. The group is growing rapidly and expects to have more than 3,300 rooms by the end of 2022. Today, the company has around thirty branches throughout France, with the ambition of adding 6 to 8 branches each year.

...and a unique network of exclusive agents

Through its Stellium subsidiaries, Omnium Finance Group offers a very wide range of investment solutions in the areas of new property, financing, and investments. As it celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, the group is forecasting a business volume of €300 million in real estate and €660 million in financial investments in 2021, with total assets under management of €1.5 billion.

Relying on a national network of exclusive and authorized agents, Omnium Finance has set up a unique development and professionalization model, with its own training center since 2012. For the 2,000 wealth consultants who make up the network, this merger will enable them to broaden their range of wealth solutions for individual clients.

We started with a personal opportunity to renovate a flat and put it up for sharing," says Christophe Baudat, one of the three co-founders of Colocatère. Encouraged by the demand and the success of the first successful operations, we learned over 10 years to distinguish ourselves until we became the leader in renovated old housing, intended for shared accommodation, turnkey and tailor-made. I am convinced that the merger with Omnium Finance will give us an additional boost.

"For Colocatère, it is an opportunity to accelerate the distribution of its offer. For Omnium Finance, it is a new diversification of our offer in the old property market which completes our offer in new rental investment, life insurance, SCPI, retirement, and providence. There are clear synergies between our companies," says Philippe Lauzeral, Managing Director of Omnium Finance. As such, he will be responsible for the supervision and integration of Colocatère. Colocatère's general management will remain in the hands of its three founders, who will join Omnium Finance's governing bodies.

The investment bank Pax Corporate Finance led the merger process. Its managing partner, Laurent Mouflin, emphasizes: "We are particularly confident in the potential of this fine association, both human and capital-based, between two companies that have known and appreciated each other for many years. Their development is based on identical cultures and I am convinced that this new group, with its extensive expertise, will easily confirm its place among the leaders in independent private management in France.