A recognised player in digital services and the trading of IT equipment and services in western France, the ATUAL INVEST Group was created under the impetus of founding director Alain Cadot following the acquisition of CIS VALLEY in 2016. It operates two main entities that generate more than €80 million in revenues:
- CIS VALLEY (€40 million in revenues), founded in 1986, a pioneer in cloud computing in France, with three business lines (infrastructure integration, managed services and cloud computing, web development and software publishing)
- ACTUAL SYSTEMES (€40 million in revenues), a long-standing subsidiary of the Group, founded in 1992, which specialises in trading high value-added IT equipment and services, offering comprehensive IT solutions to installers, integrators and resellers.
The Group also manages 2 data centres and offers associated services to its SME/midcap and large corporate customers (around 2,050 active customers) through 6 branches in Bordeaux, Nantes, Toulouse, Orléans, Montpellier and Quebec. In addition, the ACTUAL INVEST teams represent and market 5 different brands, namely: Sonata, Virtuozo, SLAPP, Meddley and Office Toner.
Founded in 1991 by Pieric Brenier, the KOESIO group (formerly C'PRO) is a major player in corporate IT that now covers its customers' needs spanning the entire value chain (IT, office automation, document processing, infrastructure, cloud computing, managed services, telecoms, and application solutions for business management and financing). This global positioning has been achieved thanks to the group's historical development strategy based on sustained organic growth combined with dynamic external growth, enabling it to expand its services and incorporate new areas of expertise. Since its creation, KOESIO has made over 150 acquisitions, including 84 over the last 4 years, while obtaining a "Best Workplaces" label from independent institute Great Place To Work.
The fast-growing group has more than 3,000 employees working through a network of 180 local offices throughout France, Belgium and Luxembourg, providing bespoke digital solutions to over 80,000 business customers. The group currently generates revenues in excess of €700 million and plans to reach the €1 billion mark by 2024.
Through this strategic deal, CIS VALLEY and KOESIO Corporate IT are joining forces to form a significant IT entity in France, with revenues close to €280 million and nearly 600 employees working across 25 sites. This new entity constitutes the leading IT services company in France, at the top of the segment of SMEs, midcaps, local authorities and public institutions, with the capacity to develop its business with large corporate customers. CIS Valley's software business will complement Koesio's offering in Management, BI and CRM solutions.
Thanks to its expertise in handling the supply needs of IT resellers, and its procurement outsourcing capabilities for these players, ACTUAL SYSTEMES is particularly well placed to support the Printing subsidiaries of the KOESIO group as they diversify into IT products and services for microenterprises (the BeProactiv range).
"CIS Valley's expertise will enable us to accelerate the development of KOESIO's regional entities in the Cloud computing and Managed Services business lines. In addition, ACTUAL SYSTEMES' expertise will help to drive the commercial development of KOESIO's regional entities in the IT and telecoms business lines, as it does now and will continue to do for its current customers." Pieric BRENIER, Founding Chairman of the KOESIO Group.
"The customer bases of CIS Valley and our subsidiary KOESIO Corporate IT (formerly QUADRIA), both comprising SMEs, midcaps and local authorities as well as large corporate customers, show strong similarities and their geographical coverage is complementary." Gilles PERROT, Managing Director and Partner of the KOESIO Group.
"Since the acquisition of CIS VALLEY by the ACTUAL INVEST holding company in 2016, we have ceaselessly sought the synergies needed to develop our Cloud Computing activities. The alliance with KOESIO is the culmination of this approach. Beyond strategic convergence, this alliance has been built on a common foundation of human and entrepreneurial values shared with Pieric and Gilles. Our joint approach has now led to CIS VALLEY being incorporated into the KOESIO Group's IT branch, and will enable us to make a significant leap up the ranking of digital services companies in France. For ACTUAL SYSTEMES, the model of an independent subsidiary, attached to the Group, clearly made sense to facilitate the day-to-day running of its wholesale distance selling business. For an entrepreneur, what could be more satisfying than pursuing an ambitious and sustainable growth trajectory for the group they founded, continuously aiming higher and further to conquer new markets!" Alain Cadot, Chairman of the ACTUAL INVEST Group.
"ADVISO PARTNERS is proud to have supported Alain CADOT and his financial partners (GALIA GESTION, BPI France and AQUITI GESTION) in this strategic alliance with the KOESIO Group. Under the leadership of its founding director, the ACTUAL INVEST group has become a key player in Cloud Computing at the national level, through the development of its managed services and software offerings. It has successfully implemented industrial synergies between its 2 business divisions, so as to steer its wholesale distance selling business towards cloud-based services. Given its strategic positioning and the ongoing consolidation of the sector, the group logically attracted unsolicited approaches from several digital services companies at the start of the year. By joining the KOESIO Group, ACTUAL SYSTEMES and CIS VALLEY will be able to pursue their development strategy while benefiting from strong industrial, technical, commercial and geographical synergies." Romain MASSIAH, Partner at ADVISO PARTNERS and Head of the South-Western Region.
