Omnes Capital is selling its majority stake in SIMP to the HCP Packaging group, owned by Baring Private Equity Asia.
HCP is a specialist in the design, development and manufacture of prestige primary packaging for the cosmetics, skincare and fragrance industries.
Omnes acquired a stake in SIMP in 2011. The deal involves keeping the management team in place, with Alain Blondel as chairman and Eric de Bardonnèche as commercial and development director.
Founded in 1949 in the Paris region, SIMP is a pioneer in plastic and rubber injection moulding. It designs and manufactures small precision industrial components produced in medium or large runs for major cosmetics companies such as L’Oréal, Lancôme, Dior, Givenchy, Estée Lauder, Bourjois and Oriflame, as well as several high value-added niche markets.
The company has two production plants, in France (Draveil) and Mexico (Aguascalientes).
Having benefited from the support of Omnes for five years, the company has achieved solid growth, with sales increasing by an average of 11 per cent per year. The company has also expanded its customer base to the European and US markets – In 2015, more than 60 per cent of sales were generated outside France.
SIMP has also strengthened its innovation activities, in particular in plastic mascara applicators, thereby consolidating its technological leadership in this segment. The company has also applied for 17 patents that have been granted or are under consideration, compared with five at the time of the buyout.
Laurent Espic, partner at SIMP, says: “We are proud to have achieved or even exceeded the targets we set ourselves with the management team in 2011. The arrival of HCP marks the next step in the development of SIMP, which after already established its presence in Europe and North America, now has access to the growing Asian market.”
Blondel adds: “Over the last five years, SIMP has established itself as a key player in the highly innovative global cosmetics applicator market. We are very pleased today to be joining the HCP group, which will enable SIMP to step up its international expansion and develop new generations of applicators.”
Benjamin Arm, managing director at Omnes Capital, says: “This disposal is the 12th divestment for the LCL Expansion and Omnes Expansion small cap funds. It illustrates the performance of our investment strategy based on long-term support and value creation driven by organic growth.”
Omnes Capital achieved a multiple of 4,7x on this deal. Following this, LCL Expansion and Omnes Expansion vehicles (2007 vintage) will have returned to their subscribers a 1x DPI.
