Activa Capital and Bpifrance have sold their stakes in Nexeya, a French group specialised in the design and manufacture of mission-critical electronic systems for major industrial companies primarily in the defence, aeronautics, space, energy, railway and automotive sectors.
After having substantially reinvested, Nexeya’s management now holds a majority stake in the group.
The operation, led by Nexeya managers Jean-Yves Rivière, Philippe Gautier, and Jérôme Giraud, gives the group’s management a 75 per cent majority stake in the company. The management team plans to accelerate the company’s development by product innovation and international expansion.
Established in 1997, Nexeya works with large French and other industrial groups such as Airbus, CEA, Comac/Avic, CNES, Naval Group, DGA, Safran, and Thales, providing them with high criticality products and high value-added products in the areas of test, power conversion, mission management systems, and equipment for space systems. Nexeya was recently chosen by France’s national space agency, the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), as a partner in creating a national nanosatellite ecosystem for satellites weighing less than 50 kilos.
With a presence in Germany, Canada, China, Morocco, and Singapore and a staff of 900, Nexeya posted a turnover of EUR132 million in 2015/2016, with an operating profit of EUR8.7 million for the same period.
In 2013 Activa Capital and Bpifrance joined Nexeya’s management in a takeover bid for the company, which was followed the next year by a delisting from the Euronext stock exchange. The management then refocused the company on its core business, reorganised by business lines, and expanded the company’s international presence through targeted acquisitions. Within four years, the company’s scope had changed considerably, thanks to two external growth operations carried out in Canada (Cabletest, acquired in January 2015), and in Germany (Techsat, acquired in November 2015) as well as the sale of two non-strategic subsidiaries.
“This reconfiguration of Nexeya’s capital gives a larger stake in the company to the managers who have been key in successfully accelerating our development in foreign markets and strengthening our own product offering,” says Jean-Yves Rivière, President of the Supervisory Board of Nexeya.
“We are pleased to support Nexeya’s management in this takeover and to contribute to a new phase of the company’s development,” adds Delphine Larrandaburu, Director of Equity Interests for BNP Développement
“Having been with Nexeya since the IPO in 2013, we were delighted to provide the uni-tranche of debt that allowed the management to become majority stakeholders,” says Bruno Bonnin, Director at Capzanine. “In addition, we have created a financing line for future external growth operations that will allow the company to accelerate its development on targeted markets.”
“We are very pleased with the progress made since we invested in Nexeya in 2013,” says Christophe Parier, Partner at Activa Capital, and Luc Heinrich, Managing Director, Mid Caps, at Bpifrance. “Today Nexeya enjoys a recognised expertise in a number of highly promising technological niche areas. The company will be able to capitalise on its experience and its product portfolio to further expand to new geographical markets.”
