Through this primary MBO transaction, ACTIVA CAPITAL becomes a reference shareholder in the company alongside founder Jean-François CLEDEL, CEO Marc POULLIN and the management team. ARKEA CAPITAL, the Group's longstanding minority shareholder, has reinvested in this deal and retains an equity interest in the company.
Founded in 1998 by Jean-François CLEDEL, INGELIANCE provides engineering and technology consulting solutions, focusing on four main business sectors: naval, aerospace & defence, energy & transport and process industries. Based in Mérignac (33), the company employs more than 800 people across 20 sites in France and internationally; it generated revenues of more than €50 million in 2019. As a top-tier provider of industrial engineering solutions, it supports Europe's biggest industrial clients in areas ranging from R&D/design to industrialisation and maintenance. Historically present in the naval sector, INGELIANCE has diversified its client base to achieve its current positioning as a leading multi-specialist player.
Driven by the strong momentum in R&D outsourcing by major clients, and with positive outlooks in its main industrial areas, the company looks forward to continuing its robust growth, lifting its revenues to at least €100 million by 2024. To achieve this, the company will build on its current healthy organic growth trend and pursue an active acquisition policy in France and internationally.
ACTIVA CAPITAL, a specialist in supporting fast-growing SMEs, will draw on its extensive expertise, particularly in targeting and executing external growth transactions. This deal is the 10th investment of ACTIVA CAPITAL's fund, ACTIVA CAPITAL Fund III.
Jean-François CLEDEL, Founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Marc POULLIN, Chairman and CEO: "We have just taken a step further in the company's progressive handover to management. Increasing the equity stake held by financial investors is crucial to support our ambitious growth project in and beyond France. During the recent months of preparation, working together with the ARKEA CAPITAL team, we became convinced that ACTIVA CAPITAL was better prepared than others to support us in this project: to improve our performance, pursue our organic development and achieve external growth. We expect our new financial partner to be very proactive in its support."
Christophe PARIER and Alexandre MASSON, Managing Partners, ACTIVA CAPITAL: "We were won over by the INGELIANCE group's unique value proposition and by the growth project driven by Jean-François CLEDEL, Marc POULLIN and the entire management team. We are convinced that ACTIVA CAPITAL is the right partner to support the group's ambitions, notably in terms of external growth and international expansion. With INGELIANCE, the ACTIVA CAPITAL fund completed its 10th investment, another primary MBO transaction alongside the founder and management, which truly embodies the strategy we have pursued since 2015."
Franck CALLE, Regional Director, ARKEA CAPITAL: "Working alongside Jean-François CLEDEL, Marc POULLIN and the INGELIANCE group's management over the last four years, we were able to appreciate the solidity of group's positioning, built on its top-quality services (universally recognised among its large clients) and outstanding management. Its development built on robust organic growth supplemented by several acquisitions has enabled the group to pass a significant milestone. We are convinced that the group is now structured and ready to enter into a second phase of equally ambitious growth. We are proud of the confidence that the group's management has shown in us by involving us in this new chapter of their story."
Romain MASSIAH, Partner at ADVISO PARTNERS: "I quickly became convinced that ACTIVA CAPITAL, with its positioning in primary transactions and expertise in buy & build strategies, would be the ideal financial partner to support INGELIANCE in the next phase of its development, notably through external growth in France and internationally. During the course of a highly competitive process, ACTIVA CAPITAL was able to convince INGELIANCE's management team of its ability to support outstanding intermediate-sized regional companies, as it already does in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the commitment and added value it brings alongside shareholder managers driving ambitious development projects."
