Eurazeo has entered into exclusive negotiations with the French infrastructure investor InfraVia for the sale of its 41 per cent stake in Grandir, an operator of nurseries and schools in France, Europe and North America. The closing of the deal is expected in the coming months.
Through the sale of its Grandir stake, Eurazeo is set to earn a 2.0x return on its initial investment, thanks to the company’s strong growth and international expansion between 2016 and 2021.
Over the last five years, Eurazeo’s mid-large buyout professionals have worked alongside Jean-Emmanuel Rodocanachi and his management team, bringing their expertise and lending their support to further Grandir’s growth and development, thus helping the company increase the number of nurseries and schools managed from about 250 to more than 650 and its revenue from EUR140 million to nearly EUR400 million.
Since Eurazeo’s investment in 2016, Grandir has solidified its position as a pioneer and leader in the French market by adopting a cohesive and ambitious organic growth strategy in order to meet the needs of families on waiting lists.
Today, two-thirds of the children Grandir cares for and educates are outside France (in Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States), with half of this proportion enrolled in the company’s schools for children above 3 years old. By focusing its development efforts on a limited number of countries, the company is able to have a genuine social impact in each of them.
Its educational staff in these different countries actively share best practices, thus allowing Grandir to deliver on its corporate purpose: “Contributing step by step to the all-round development of every child.”
The entry into exclusive negotiations for the Grandir deal follows on the heels of those involving Eurazeo’s stakes in Iberchem, Trader Interactive and Planet in this first half of the year. All of them illustrate the mid-large buyout team’s excellence in accompanying the development of its portfolio companies operating in markets with solid fundamentals to help them realise their strong international growth and value creation potential.
Marc Frappier, Managing Partner, Mid-Large Buyout and Executive Board member, says: “In these last five years, Eurazeo has been a trusted partner for Jean – Emmanuel Rodocanachi and his teams. For Grandir, we brought together the expertise of a dedicated operational team, the strength of an international network, and the resources needed to pursue external growth. We take great pride in the fact that the company is now a major player in early childhood education and care worldwide.”
Vivianne Akriche, Managing Director, Mid-Large Buyout, adds: “Grandir has transformed itself significantly over the last five years, thanks to the wonderful work of its teams, with Eurazeo at its side. Today, the company has all the cards in its hand, from the standpoint of human capital as well as organisational performance, to achieve continued growth in the early childhood education and care sector both in France and around the world. We wish Jean-Emmanuel Rodocanachi and Grandir all the success they clearly deserve for the next chapters in their adventure.”
