Eurazeo, via its subsidiary Eurazeo PME, is set to invest about EUR80 million in the acquisition of a majority stake in UTAC CERAM. Current investors, FCDE, CCFA, and UTAC CERAM’s senior executives and key managers will retain a stake in the business. The shared ambition of Eurazeo PME, FCDE and the management team led by CEO Laurent Benoit is to step up UTAC CERAM’s growth in Europe and worldwide, while helping the group expand into new business areas and geographies.
Eurazeo will bring its financial resources and all its expertise (its international network, its experience in the integration of acquired innovative companies, digitisation, CSR, etc.) to support the management team in the acceleration of UTAC CERAM’s transformation plan, which was launched when FCDE acquired its majority stake in 2018. UTAC CERAM will thus be able to pursue expansion both within and outside France and equip itself with new resources in order to meet the major current and future challenges facing the automotive sector.
Eurazeo PME’s entry into the capital of UTAC CERAM will allow it to increase its market shares in Europe in the area of homologation and technical testing, but also to integrate new digital capabilities (cybersecurity, digital simulation, connectivity, data management, benchmarking).
UTAC CERAM’s expertise and business lines include: development and validation testing for environmental factors, homologation and regulatory compliance, training, consulting, audit and certification, technical controls, normative testing, and the organisation of events. UTAC CERAM operates the only official Euro NCAP testing facility in France. It has 580 employees across its various locations, including its Linas-Montlhéry and Mortefontaine testing centres in the Paris region, but also around the world, with subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, China and Japan. In June 2019, the group celebrated the opening of Teqmo, its new testing centre dedicated to connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs), at its historic site in Linas-Montlhéry. Teqmo is the showcase for the group’s new business lines and expertise in the areas of cybersecurity, connectivity, simulation and electrification. In summer 2021, UTAC CERAM will open the very first automotive testing centre on the African continent, in Oued Zem, Morocco. In 2019, UTAC CERAM generated revenue of EUR83 million, 11 per cent of which was reinvested, as is the case every year.
Pierre Meignen, Eurazeo PME Executive Board member, says: “We are very pleased to stand by UTAC CERAM in this new chapter of its history and to provide the group with the resources needed to facilitate its expansion plans. Our aim is to support Laurent Benoit’s team in the execution of an ambitious growth strategy that seeks to position the group not only as the world’s leading automotive homologation and technical testing provider, but also as a major player in the energy transition and in the development of tomorrow’s mobility solutions.”
Laurent Benoit, CEO of UTAC CERAM, says: “We are convinced that this next phase will be instrumental in ramping up our group’s growth and expansion for the years to come. Since 2018, the firm has enjoyed the strong support of FCDE, throughout our rapid growth phase. I am delighted by the arrival of Eurazeo PME, which will be drawing on all its resources and its recognised expertise to give a boost to our expansion in France and around the world.”
Julien di Marco, FCDE Partner and Executive Committee member, says: “We are especially pleased to have accompanied UTAC CERAM when it decided to step out on its own in 2018. The implementation of an ambitious transformation plan, including an investment plan and a massive recruitment campaign, the addition of new members to the management team, together with adjustments to culture and the organisation, helped accelerate the group’s growth and make it more competitive. Eurazeo PME’s entry into UTAC CERAM’s capital will allow it to accelerate its international expansion through acquisitions in its sector, while also developing its digital capabilities.”
