The London-based private equity that Mauro Moretti founded, Bpifrance, Société Générale, and Crédit Mutuel Equity tabled a bid for a minority of the French manufacturer of solutions for the aerospace industry
Socomore, a French manufacturer of soutions for the aerospace industry that belongs to Raise Invest since 2018, granted Three Hills, a London’s private equity that Mauro Moretti founded, Bpifrance, Société Générale Capital Partenaires and Crédit Mutuel Equity (CME) with exclusive talks for a minority of the business. The structure of the transaction provides for a combination of priviledged and ordinary shares. (press release).
CME has been Socomore’s main shareholder for 14 years while Raise will exit. Socomore’s founder and chairman Frédéric Lescure and the managers will keep the majority.
Such a deal will help the company to boost its international expansion, strengthening innovation and strategic growth activities, as well as ensuring liquidity for existing shareholders. The partnership will also support Socomore’s ambition to further consolidate its position in the fields of aerospace original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service providers globally.
Vannes-based Socomore started its activity in 1972 and since then it manufactures certified and essential chemicals for aircraft production and maintenance, a market worth 2.3 billion euros with a resilient and growing demand.
The company generates 80% of its turnover in the aerospace sector. However, Socomore also operates in high-tech and environmentally friendly sectors, such as wind and nuclear energy, automotive and rail. The company has a global presence with nine industrial sites in Europe and North America, as well as partnerships in Latin America and Asia.
Lescure said: “We are proud of the path Socomore took over the past 50 years. The partnership with Three Hills marks a new chapter in our development, which will allow us to accelerate our international expansion and continue to invest in innovation to meet the evolving needs of our customers”.
Pauline Ammeux, a Partner of Three Hills, added: “Socomore can benefit from long-term growth in the resilient aerospace chemicals market thanks to its unique offering. It is a rare example of a company that combines deep technical expertise, global reach and a strong culture of innovation. We are excited to support the next phase of its growth path and to partner with a management team that has consistently demonstrated strategic vision and operational excellence”.
Alessandro Gonella, Bpifrance cio, said: ‘We are delighted to support Socomore in this new phase of development. The company is a strategic French player in the aerospace value chain, and we believe that its innovation capabilities and international presence will be key to seizing future growth opportunities.”.
Julien Krebs, Société Générale Capital Partenaires cio, pointed out: “We are delighted to join forces with Socomore on its growth path, which boasts a very impressive track record. The strategic choices that Lescure made positioned the group in highly demanding and critical markets with high entry barriers and strong growth potential. The group enjoys considerable recognition from its customers, who are global benchmarks in their fields and demand the most advanced technologies. Socomore’s has an impressive capability for innovation, which enables it to anticipate market changes. We are firmly convinced of the quality of the management team leading the project, which possesses all the necessary characteristics to fully realise the group’s growth potential”.
Badri Ben Grine and Gaspard de Longeaux, chief capital transmission and cio of Crédit Mutuel Equity, concluded: “Crédit Mutuel Equity has been Socomore’s main shareholder for 14 years and it’s proud to continue this path by reinvesting in this new operation. We are proud to have supported the transformation of this French SME, with a turnover of 20 million in 2011, into a global medium-sized company generating 120 million in sales, having completed no less than 15 acquisitions in Europe and the US. We also supported its organic growth strategy, which led to the creation of two new factories in Elven and Fort Worth, a new research and development centre and expansion into the sealant sector. We also supported the professionalisation of its governance and the implementation of an ambitious ESG strategy, which will enable the group to build its next action plan on a solid foundation”.
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