LBO France has acquired a majority stake in the Infodis Group, a French specialist in facilities management and systems & network engineering.
The investment has been made alongside Vighen Papazian, Infodis’ chairman and founder; Jacques Gourseaud and Florent Burlet, its deputy CEOs; and Walid Abi Chahla, head of its Visualdis unit; as well as other managers who will hold equity stakes.
Founded in 1985 and based in Roissy, near Paris, theInfodis Group currently employs around 500 people. In recent years, it has achieved steady organic growth while undertaking targeted acquisitions. Its successful integration of several companies, including ITCOM in 2011 and SRID in December 2016, has allowed it to build up its skills, particularly in facilities management of workstations for banks and insurance companies. These acquisitions have also allowed it to expand its portfolio of historical clients in manufacturing, media and services for the banking and insurance sectors, whose IT service needs are growing. The Group is one of the few players of this size to have a portfolio consisting of almost 200 direct clients, 70 per cent of which are major clients.
In expanding its technical and human resources, the Infodis Group is firmly carving out a role as a high-value-added digital company with an expertise in the digital transformation of companies.
Having become a key player on its market, Infodis plans to avail itself of LBO France’s support to accelerate its development through both organic and external growth in France and other countries
Nicolas Manardo, Managing Director at LBO France, says: “For this sixth investment in our small cap strategy, we have chosen a company that features experienced management, with an excellent financial track record and a strong performance over the years, as well as a bright outlook for future growth. We are looking forward to assisting the company’s founders and managers in an ambitious development project that is driven by both strong resiliency in its business lines and very attractive external growth opportunities”.
Vighen Papazian, Chairman and Founder of the Infodis Group, says: “We have chosen to rely on a first-tier partner to pursue our development strategy, while holding onto our operational independence. This new stage will allow the group I founded 34 years ago to continue developing while sticking to its fundamentals. Having an equity investor on board like LBO France will speed up our development on a highly competitive market, particularly by expanding in facilities management, managed services and high-level expertise in complex environments”.
