Keensight Capital, a private equity managers dedicated to pan-European Growth Buyout investments, is to acquire a majority stake in Adista, an alternative B2B hosted services provider.
Upon completion of the transaction, Keensight will take over from Equistone Partners Europe (Equistone) as Adista’s majority shareholder alongside FEF, the co-investment partnership between Mubadala and Bpifrance and the management team led by Patrice Bélie.
Adista, a specialist in IT and telecom services, supports the digitalisation of a diverse customer base, made up of private-sector players (from SMEs to large companies) and public-sector organisations (hospitals and local authorities), with a full range of services. The company offers private and public cloud services, managed services, fixed and mobile telecom solutions integrated into its interconnection networks as well as telephony and collaboration services, the expertise of its cybersecurity division, and the ability to develop applications and web projects. Adista uses its own datacentres, across France.
With more than 720 employees and a network of 35 branches throughout France, Adista has consolidated its position as a leading player in the B2B cloud and connectivity market since Equistone has acquired a majority stake in the company in 2016. With the acquisitions of Fingerprint Technologies in July 2020 and Waycom in February 2021, Adista recorded cumulative revenues of EUR153 million for the 12 months ending 12/31/2020, and targets to reach EUR300 million by 2025.
Keensight Capital aims to support Adista’s teams, led by Patrice Bélie, in achieving this ambition. With this majority investment, Keensight Capital intends to accelerate Adista’s organic growth – in the buoyant market of business digitalisation – while supporting the development strategy of its “one-stop shop” offer through external growth and the integration of additional skills and solutions.
The long-standing minority shareholders are also part of this new project, as well as the company’s founders, Gilles and Pascal Caumont, who are still present on the company’s Supervisory Board. Keensight Capital has also invited some of its LPs, among which FEF, the co-investment partnership between Mubadala and Bpifrance, to participate in the transaction.
Patrice Bélie, CEO of Adista, says: “We are delighted to welcome Keensight Capital as a majority shareholder and partner in the next phase of Adista’s development. This passing of the torch is part of an undeniable dynamic for the company, which has doubled its revenue since 2016 and has the ambition to do the same by 2025. On behalf of the Adista team, we would like to thank Equistone for what we have accomplished together over the past years and warmly welcome Keensight Capital to write the next chapter of Adista’s history.”
Stanislas de Tinguy, Partner at Keensight Capital, says: “We are pleased to support Patrice Bélie and his team in the next stage of Adista’s tremendous growth story. Adista has a solid growth model in the buoyant market of business digitalisation. Thanks to his tailor-made vision of customer expectations and his talented management, we are convinced of the prospects we will build together.”
Philippe Crochet, Managing Partner at Keensight Capital, adds: “Through our Tech expertise and our proactive identification of European companies, we had identified Adista several years ago and were able to forge a strong bond with Patrice and his team, which allowed us to successfully complete this transaction and to project ourselves into Adista’s future.”
Julie Lorin, Partner at Equistone, says: “We are proud to have accompanied Adista’s outstanding growth story since 2016 and to have fully played our role as strategic partner to its founders in the company’s transformation with a governance adapted to its ambitions.”
“Under the leadership of Patrice Bélie, the renewed management team has done a remarkable job, enabling the Group to be a major player in the consolidation of the sector. We are convinced that Adista is ideally positioned to continue consolidating its leadership as the leading French alternative B2B operator,” says Thierry Lardinois, Partner at Equistone.
