24 June 2021

Rossignol x UI Investissement x BNP Paribas Développement

LBO

Secteur Industry

Rossignol, the expert in selective sorting solutions, waste collection and hygiene equipment made in France recomposes its shareholding

Client Rossignol

Founded at the end of the 19th century in Mayenne, Rossignol is a historical specialist in cleanliness and hygiene solutions (garbage cans, sorting stations, distributors or other sanitary equipment). A key player in its various markets, the company manufactures and distributes more than 2,000 products mainly manufactured in France to more than 3,000 mainly professional customers, both private and public.

Client Azulis Capital

Azulis Capital supports SMEs with high potential by providing them with equity to accelerate their change of size and facilitate their transmission through a social and environmental responsibility approach.

Client Socadif

Socadif supports SMEs and mid-caps in their development and transmission capital operations.

Client Andera Partners

The Andera Partners team invests in equity in French SMEs in order to support and accelerate their development project and/or participate in their shareholder reorganisation, in particular on the occasion of a first capital opening.

Contrepartie UI Investissement

A specialist in the development of unlisted French companies, UI has been committed and invested, for more than 50 years, alongside managers of SMEs and growing ISEs, in order to bring about the emergence and development of economically and sustainably performing companies. Since its independence in 2004, UI Investissement has raised €1.5 billion around three investment platforms (regional, national, sector) and invested in more than 150 companies, mainly in the healthcare sectors, agribusiness, and services. Following the integration of Invest PME, UI now supports nearly 110 companies by relying on more than 30 employees and regional offices in Nantes, Rennes, Reims, Strasbourg, Dijon, Besançon and Lille in addition to its teams

Contrepartie BNP Paribas Développement

BNP Paribas Développement, an autonomous subsidiary of the international banking group BNP Paribas, is a public limited company created in 1988 which directly invests its own funds to support the development of successful SMEs and midcaps and ensure their sustainability by facilitating their transmission, as a minority shareholder.

The company, majority owned by Azulis Capital, Andera Partners, Socadif and BNP Paribas Développement since 2011, is taken over by its management, supported by UI Investissement and BNP Paribas Développement, which reinvests. The operation is based on a debt arranged by Arkéa Banque Entreprise et Institutionnels.

Since 2017 and under the impulse of a trio of leaders composed of Joël Bresteaux, Eric Fayol, and Jean-Christophe Pascual, Rossignol has developed recognized expertise in urban furniture and selective sorting. With eco-designed products made from recyclable materials, the brand distinguishes itself by a CSR approach adapted to the new expectations of its customers and to environmental, societal, and regulatory issues.

In addition to its industrial know-how and local roots, the French manufacturer relies on the skills of a hundred employees and a successful sales organization. The company has also managed to differentiate itself by offering new product ranges that are more technical, aesthetic, customizable, and always competitive.

The success of the new ranges imagined and manufactured by Rossignol for 5 years has validated the strategy implemented by the management team to reposition and gain new market share. The company now aims to capitalize on its new reputation to continue its growth momentum and also plans to carry out external growth operations.

The UI Investment teams will actively support the leaders in the implementation of their development project and in particular the operational deployment of their CSR strategy. Already ahead of its time on this topic, which is intrinsically linked to its activity, the Group intends to enrich its eco-design approach and improve its territorial footprint. On the occasion of this transaction, BNP Paribas Développement, a historic shareholder, renews its confidence in Rossignol by reinvesting alongside UI Investissement.

PAX Corporate Finance was commissioned at the end of 2020 to organize the recomposition of the group’s shareholding. The MBO solution quickly established itself in the light of the performance recorded by the management over the last years and the process made it possible to materialize a strong interest of so many regional and national investors.

The investment bank also participated in the raising of a bank financing from Arkéa Banque Entreprises et Institutionnels, arranger, and BRED the group’s historical bank. The Caisse d’Epargne completes the round table. The three institutions also expressed their interest in supporting the company in its future needs and in particular with regard to external growth operations.