DLA Piper advised Ardian on its binding offer for the acquisition of the Solina groupDLA Piper advised Ardian on its binding offer for the acquisition of the Solina group. The independent private investment company has entered into exclusive negotiations with IK Investment Partners for the acquisition of Solina, the European provider of food ingredient mixes. The management team, led by Eric Terre (CEO and Founder), Laurent Weber (COO) and Bertrand Vaz (CFO), will reinvest in the company.
Based in Brittany, France, Solina develops and produces functional, taste, visual and nutritional culinary ingredients. Created through the merger of Savena and Sfinc in December 2011, and further reinforced through an ambitious bolt-on strategy, the Group is well known for the quality of its products and its ability to adapt its recipes to suit the specific taste preferences of consumers across its various markets. In 2014, Solina reached a turnover of €305 million.
The Group, which now has more than 15,000 clients, has enjoyed strong organic and external growth since its creation in 1988 by Eric Terré and is ideally positioned to become a leading global player in the attractive blended seasoning market. This investment will provide Solina with resources to reinforce its leading position in France, Benelux and Scandinavia, as well as support the company’s expansion in Europe and in fast-growing countries.
Advisors included:
ARDIAN
* Ardian: Bruno Ladrière, Mathieu Antonini, Daniel Setton, Emmanuel Miquel, Alexis Manet
* Legal advisors:
Corporate: DLA Piper (Xavier Norlain, partner and corporate location head, Sébastien Pontillo, counsel)
Tax: DLA Piper (Guillaume Valois)
Financing: DLA Piper (Maud Manon)
Antitrust: DLA Piper (Edouard Sarrazin)
* Buyer due-diligence:
Strategic: BCG (Stéphane Baleston)
Financial: EY Transaction Advisory Services (Laurent Majubert, Thibault Mignonac)
Tax: EY Société d’Avocats (Sophie Fournier-Dedoyard)
MANAGEMENT
* Management : Eric Terré, Laurent Weber, Bertrand Vaz
* Legal advisor: Paul Hastings (Pascal de Moidrey)
* Management financial advisor: Llione & Associés (Marc O’Neill)
IK INVESTMENTS PARTNERS
* IK Investment Partners: Dan Soudry, Rémi Buttiaux, Arnaud Bosc
* Legal advisors : Willkie Farr & Gallagher (Edouardo Fernandez et Gregory de Saxcé)
Financing
* CA-CIB: Thibéry Gleizes, Jean-Christophe Bonassies and Natixis: Stéphane Herschtel, Emmanuel Maguin
* Gide: Eric Cartier-Million
