With > 90 closings, GEREJE is a top tier M&A firm (Ranked N1 / N2 / N6 in 2023 M&A firm) since 2016 in the Advisory Fusacq ranking - Corporate banking fundraising rankings in France.
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2012GEREJE Corporate Finance assisted the French industrial Duchêne Industries in securing financing for an external growth operation in Portugal.
The financing was achieved thanks to the support of a banking pool LCL, BP AURA and SOCIETE GENERALE with the support of Bpifrance as well as the regional investment fund BFC Croissance which took a equity stake in Duchêne Industries.
About Duchêne Industries
Founded in 1967, Duchêne Industries is a major player in the precision machining of large parts. The company stands out for its commitment to innovation, quality and sustainable development.
About BFC Croissance
BFC Croissance is the private equity subsidiary of Banque Populaire Bourgogne Franche-Comté. It supports the financing of innovation, capdev and transmission. As a minority shareholder, BFC Croissance works alongside the company’s directors without interfering in its management.
Fabrice Lombardo, CEO of GEREJE Corporate Finance: “Thanks to our financial partners, and in particular to Willan AREZKI and Jean-Sébastien GUINCHARD of BFC Croissance, who helped secure the financing along the banking pool.
Alexandre HEUZE, CEO of Duchêne Industries: ‘Thanks to BFC Croissance for participating in the renewal of French industry and supporting us in our project to build a French/European industrial leader. I would also like to thank the GEREJE teams for structuring and securing this financing operation, which was necessary to complete this first build-up.
Jean-Sébastien GUINCHARD and Willan AREZKI of BFC Croissance: ‘We are proud to support Duchêne Industries in this strategic milestone of its development and to participate in the consolidation of its position on the European market. This operation illustrates the commitment of Banque Populaire Bourgogne Franche-Comté to supporting regional companies in their growth and strengthening the local industrial market. Many thanks to Alexandre HEUZE for his vision, and to GEREJE for their expertise and support throughout this project. ’
View external linkGEREJE Corporate Finance advises the French 🇫🇷 Industrial Duchêne Industries on rethinking its build-up/external growth strategy and the acquisition of TSF in Portugal 🇵🇹.
This operation allows the group AMMG:
🚀 to accelerate its growth strategy, revenue X2.5 & EBITDA X4
🚀 to strengthen the French reindustrialisation project initiated by Alexandre HEUZÉ, by giving a European and international dimension thanks to its establishment in Portugal 🇵🇹
🚀 to diversify its offer and expand its production capacity (+5,000m2 of production area) through the complementarity of the respective expertises of Duchêne Industries & TSF.
About Duchêne Indutries:
DUCHÊNE Industries part of the AMMG group, a French industrial group with a long history and recognised expertise since 1967, specialising in the machining of large series production precision mechanical parts based in Ruy-Montceau in the Isère department.
Its expertise is recognised by major principals in strategic sectors such as the rail, construction and public works, special machines, defense, nuclear, marine and truck industries.
For more information: https://www.duchene-industries.fr
About TSF:
Founded in 1995, TSF has over 25 years’ experience in the machining/welding and assembly of large precision mechanical parts in small series.
TSF started its activity in 1995 and today, with more than 25 years of know-how and expertise, the company exports 88% of its production to the main European markets, knowing that the manufacture of these small series and unique parts with high added value is intended for highly demanding sectors such as the nuclear, aeronautical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, Food and perfumery/cosmetics, packaging industries, among others.
For more information: https://www.tsf-trofa.com/fr/
Fabrice LOMBARDO, CEO of GEREJE Corporate Finance: “Thanks to Alexandre HEUZÉ & his partners Guillaume Gauthier, Martial PIOLAT, Mathieu DAMOUR for their trust!”
Alexandre HEUZE, CEO of DUCHÊNE Industries : “The ideal acquisition seemed impossible to me, but we finally managed to secure the deal with TSF in just a few months, with the support of the GEREJE teams.”
View external linkGEREJE secures debt financing for SINFONY, an EDTECH – SaaS B2B mandatory training company.
View external linkGEREJE Corporate Finance secured financing for TK’BLUE Agency which provides innovative solutions to measure, analyze and optimize the environmental and societal impact of transport operations
View external linkGEREJE Corporate Finance advises RED EDITION, a renowned High-end French furniture brand in its financing strategy
View external linkGEREJE Corporate Finance secures financing for OPNR Group from KARMEN (debt fund) & from a family office to support its working capital
View external linkGEREJE secures investments from several private investors / entrepreneurs on behalf of SINFONY, an EDTECH – SaaS B2B mandatory training company.
View external linkGEREJE Corporate Finance secures financing for GCI, a rapid growing “CLIMATE TECH” providing a BtoB platform to calculate and optimise its carbon footprint.
View external linkGEREJE Corporate Finance has advised and supported CULLIGAN in its acquisition of ATLIS in Switzerland.
We are delighted to have initiated and then supported CULLIGAN (a US based worldwide leader in water treatment) in its acquisition of ATLIS, a reputed player in the Swiss softener
industry.
This deal highlights GEREJE Corporate Finance’s ability to conclude complex transactions successfully and its leading position in cross-border M&A advisory services.
Fabrice LOMBARDO, Founding CEO of GEREJE Corporate Finance: “I would like to thank you CULLIGAN for its trust taking into account that this transaction has a particular resonance for me being active in this industry for many years as former international director of BWT as well as shareholder of DOM’EAU Group in the Indian Ocean.”
About GEREJE Corporate Finance:
Founded in 2008, GEREJE Corporate Finance is an independent M&A firm providing financial and strategic advisory services (fundraising, acquisition, sale, consulting) led by a multidisciplinary team based between Europe (France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Portugal) and Asia (Singapore & Thailand) able to execute tailor-made transactions with a strong entrepreneurial culture close to business owners: https://gerejecorpfinance.com/
About Culligan International:
Founded in 1936 and headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois, CULLIGAN International is a world leader in delivering premium water services and solutions that improve the health and wellness of consumers. Committed to sustainable solutions, the company offers some of the most technologically advanced water filtration and treatment services and solutions, including water softeners, drinking water systems, and whole-house systems for homeowners and bottle-less coolers for businesses. CULLIGAN’s network of dealers and direct operations is the largest in its industry, with over 7,500 employees, 1,000 dealers in 90 countries and over 2,700M US$ revenue: www.corporate.culligan.com
GEREJE Corporate Finance advises the French group ORIAL, an independent accounting, auditing and social services firm, in the acquisition of Accomplys, an accounting and auditing firm based in Paris, as well as iDocus, a document/invoice dematerialization solution in SaaS mode.
We are delighted to have initiated and accompanied this acquisition which allows the Orial Group to strengthen its position in Paris and to accelerate its digitalization!
About ORIAL :
Created in 2006 from the merger of the accounting and auditing firms Corec-Soleco, CCR, AGN Orial and G.Perron & Associés, ORIAL is one of the first independent accounting, auditing and social firms in the Rhône-Alpes region with 14 partners and 160 employees.
Orial has developed its expertise around three strong and complementary values: ambition, sharing and solidarity and offers its services to all sizes of companies: SMEs, ETIs, associations or foundations, groups, subsidiaries or branches of foreign groups.
About ACCOMPLYS :
A Parisian accounting and auditing firm that guarantees a close relationship with each of its clients.
With a team composed of experts in start-ups and auditors in tune with the problems of the non-market sector (associations, foundations, works councils) as well as service and e-commerce companies.
About IDOCUS :
Founded in 2014, IDocus is a data structuring and processing company. A dematerialization solution for invoices in SaaS mode for accountants (multimodal collection, processing, restitution) to generate, without intervention, accounting entries that can be fully exploited by business software (more than 10,000 documents processed every day), IDocus also assists SMEs and ETIs in their data processing and categorization issues (more than 30,000 documents processed every day).
About GEREJE Corporate Finance :
Founded in 2008, GEREJE Corporate Finance is an independent M&A firm (fundraising, buy-side, sell-side, IPO) with a multidisciplinary team in Europe (Paris, Nantes, Lyon, Geneva, Vienna, Lisbon) and Asia (Singapore, Kuala Lumpur) capable of executing “tailor-made” transactions with a strong entrepreneurial culture close to the business owner: https://gerejecorpfinance.com/
With 78 closings between 2016 and 2021 (transactions between 3m€ and 100M€), GEREJE has been N1 & N2 for the last 6 years in the ranking of M&A advisors for SMID Cap in France & internationally on Fusacq (GEREJE CORPORATE FINANCE, Banque d’affaires, Leveur de fonds, Ile-de-France, Annuaire des experts Places des commerces ).
Denis Barbarossa, CEO Idocus : « The IDocus team is delighted to join the ORIAL group, allowing us to strengthen our actions in the digital transition of the accounting profession but also to benefit from a strong support in a context of rapid development of electronic invoicing in the coming years »
Fabrice LOMBARDO, CEO of GEREJE Corporate Finance: “Congratulations to the GEREJE Team for initiating and organizing the deal between Orial and Accomplys & Idocus, which seemed quite obvious to us!
I salute the professionalism and the involvement of the managers who worked to make this deal as efficient as possible. This operation will allow the ORIAL group to strengthen its presence in Paris and to boost its digital development.
This transaction further strengthens our partnership with the ORIAL firm with whom we have been working closely since the opening of our Lyon office in 2017!”
View external linkGEREJE Corporate Finance has advised VSB Service in its merger to AKESA – Groupe EPI
About VSB Service :
Founded in 1987, VSB Service is a family-owned B2B cleaning company that mainly offers its services to condominiums and, to a lesser extent, to offices, in Villefranche sur Saône and its suburbs, as well as than Beaujolais and the Val de Saône
Its durability and the constant progression of its results are closely linked to the involvement of its managers and staff to meet the needs of its customers. VSB Service is a company that offers a real potential of development with adapted services.
About AKESA – Groupe EPI :
For more than 30 years, Akesa has been providing cleaning solutions to more than 300 customers. Located near Lyon, the company has chosen to develop locally with 8 acquisitions since 2012 in the Rhône, the surrounding departments and in the Ile de France.
A regional company, independent, of intermediate size, which responds with responsiveness and professionalism to the needs of its customers, regardless of their size.
AKESA brings to its customers the structure and durability of a group and the agility and flexibility of a small manufacturer.
Dorian MARTINS GOMES, CEO of VSB Service ” Thank you to GEREJE Corporate Finance for this merger with Akesa – Groupe EPI. We are delighted that this company sharing our values will ensure the continuity and development of our family business VSB Service “.
Fabrice Lombardo, CEO of GEREJE Corporate Finance: “Congratulations to the GEREJE Team, in particular my long-time partner Antoine Alemany and Hugo Monnet, VP, for initiating and organizing the merger between VSB Service and Akesa – Groupe EPI. I salute the will, the professionalism as well as the involvement of the managers of the 2 companies who worked to make the takeover as efficient as possible in order to preserve the existing business (activity, jobs, values), and then to be able to develop the business by activating the levers of growth & synergies between the companies. This transaction also concretizes our partnership with ORIAL, with whom we work closely.
View external linkGEREJE Corporate Finance has advised and supported ACI Group in a €7M fundraising with the independent fund GEI.
ACI is a French ETI made up of a group of small and medium-sized companies specialized in subcontracting (Research, Design & Manufacturing of parts, Maintenance & Service) for leading-edge industries: Aeronautics, Automotive, Railways, Defense, Energy and Medical. Spread over 17 industrial sites close to the main technological areas, the 600 employees of the ACI group work with more than 3,000 customers throughout the world.
After supporting ACI in its merger with DVIATION, a well-known player in aeronautical maintenance in Southeast Asia, GEREJE Corporate Finance initiated and supported this €7 million capital increase with GEI, which will enable ACI to strengthen its offer and pursue its investments.
GEI is an independent €280 million investment fund. The subscribers are exclusively entrepreneurs, who bring their expertise in addition to their financial support in order to best assist the managers of SMEs and ETIs.
Fabrice Lombardo, CEO of GEREJE Corporate Finance: “It is excellent news that a fund subscribed by entrepreneurs such as GEI (Frédéric DUBUISSON & Pierrick JEANNOT) is supporting the growth project of the associated founders Philippe RIVIERE and Patrice RIVES. I congratulate ACI & GEI for having succeeded in closing an operation in such a short time and I wish them all the success they deserve! I would like to thank & congratulate all my teams for their hard work and tenacity and in particular Antoine ALEMANY who initiated the first contact with GEI as well as Hugo MONNET who coordinated the whole process”
View external linkGEREJE Corporate Finance advises the French Group Groupe BBL – Transport International in the acquisition of the Swiss company Transit’air SA
We are delighted to have initiated and supported the integration of Transit’air SA (Turn. 10M€) to Groupe BBL – Transport International (Turn. >400 M€) which is strengthening its position in Switzerland and continuing its dynamic growth through acquisitions!
Thanks to the Groupe BBL – Transport International and Christophe Besset for their confidence and congratulations to all the teams, especially Lorraine Vilgrain & Denis Pasquier for their professionalism throughout the process.
Congratulations to my teams and especially to my partner Antoine ALEMANY, who has been by my side since the beginning of the adventure in 2008 in Singapore and who once again legitimizes his presence in Switzerland since 2016!
Press Release:
> In French : https://lnkd.in/eFzDDzfi
> In English : https://lnkd.in/eci5UaWP
GEREJE Corporate Finance assists Groupe BBL in its merger with EGETRA Group.
About EGETRA:
The EGETRA Group is an international company with 120 years of experience in road and overseas transport (sea and air), contract logistics and customs brokerage. Led by its sixth generation since the arrival of Rémy POITEVIN as Chairman in 2016, Le Groupe EGETRA achieved sales of around €50 million last year.
About BBL:
Founded in 1997 by Kaci Kebaili, Groupe BBL has built an original model of specialist federation that brings together more than fifteen SMEs whose teams and brands are recognized for their particular know-how in the Group’s four historic businesses: Contract Logistics, Overseas Transport, Road Transport and Groupage, Customs Commission. Prior to the integration of EGETRA, Groupe BBL already had over 1,000 employees, and its sales are expected to exceed €380 million in 2021, boosted by the acquisition of LUSOCARGO in March 2021, LOGVAD in July 2021, and by a strong rebound in organic growth.
Christophe BESSET, Managing Director of BBL Group: “The integration of EGETRA’s activities and employees makes a lot of sense, with obvious complementarities in terms of expertise, but also in terms of locations in France as well as in Europe (Germany and Romania) and North Africa.”
Fabrice LOMBARDO, CEO of GEREJE Corporate Finance: “I am delighted to have initiated the merger between the BBL and EGETRA groups. I salute the determination, professionalism and commitment of the 2 groups’ management teams, who worked hard to ensure that the takeover was as efficient as possible, firstly to preserve the existing business (activity, jobs, customer service), and then of course to be able to relaunch the business by activating the levers for growth & synergies between the companies.”
View external linkGEREJE Corporate Finance has supported ARTANA group, leader in the OFF&ON line marketing shopper market, to optimize its growth capital operation with CITA Investissement.
GEREJE Corporate Finance has been working with ARTANA Group since 2018 to optimize its financing and its development, which until then had been 100% self-financed!
This growth capital operation with CITA Investissement allows ARTANA to strengthen its share capital and to seize possible external growth operations in order to reinforce its leadership in France & internationally.
Guillaume RAGUET, CEO of ARTANA GROUP: “CITA Investissement’s entry in our capital allows the group to open a new important phase in its growth strategy and to reinforce its position as a leader in Field Marketing offering “phygital” solutions to a wide range of companies from multinationals to SMEs! We appreciated the human dimension of CITA Investissement and their capacity to support us on the long term as a financial partner.
In this complicated economic context, the support and involvement of GEREJE’s teams were key to the success of the operation“.
Fabrice LOMBARDO, CEO of GEREJE Corporate Finance: “I am sincerely pleased that, despite the health crisis, CITA Investissement is supporting ARTANA Group and its management team, with whom we have had the pleasure of working since 2018! The arrival of CITA Investissement in the Capital will allow the group to best approach 2021 and accelerate its growth thanks to a real leverage effect on the dynamics of recovery! »
In 2019, GEREJE Corporate Finance supported the company “LEO & LEA”, an e-commerce platform for premium dog food, in the optimization of its “bridge” fundraising with business angels and HNWI. This €1.3M fund raising should enable the company to optimize its future A series ($5M) by boosting its key figures.
LEO & LEA was created in 2017 in Japan by the founding team behind the success of Glamour Sales, a platform for “private sales” for luxury goods, declined in Japan under the name Gladd ($180 million in sales) and in China under Mei.com (sold several hundred million USD to the Alibaba group). The founders have applied their expertise in luxury and e-commerce to the booming pet food sector, relying on the brand image of a 100% “made in Japan” product, tailor-made according to the nutritional needs of each dog.
In Q3 2019, LEO & LEA recorded a 3x growth in sales and a conversion rate (online visitors become buyers) of nearly 6%, three times the e-commerce average.
Fabrice LOMBARDO, CEO of GEREJE: “Asia is at the very beginning of the premium and digital “pet food” trend, which has already exploded in the United States and Europe with, for example, the American NomNomNow (USD 10M in 2018) or the British Butternot Box (GBP 5M in series A). LEO & LEA has the double advantage of being a “first mover”, whose execution is served by a team of experienced entrepreneurs. The growth prospects are enormous in Asia Pacific where pets are taking a prominent place in hyper-connected populations. »
Alexandre MONTEUX, Co-founder of LEO&LEA: “Thanks to social networks, consumption patterns are radically changing. Consumers are now directly sharing their experiences, getting information and demanding more quality and traceability – especially when it comes to food and health, including for their pets. Leo&Lea is part of this global “Direct to Consumers” brand trend: by cutting traditional distribution costs, we can focus on purchasing natural, quality raw materials and offer, thanks to our digital technology & expertise, a nutritional plan perfectly adapted to each dog, as well as an optimal shopping experience for the consumer. Leo&Lea’s very good operational and financial performances in 2019 (more than 2.5x the 2018 turnover and an e-commerce conversion rate close to 6%!) confirm the traction of this still new market in Asia, as well as the efficiency of our teams. GEREJE continues to support us professionally in the successive rounds of financing that will enable us to accelerate our growth. »
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GEREJE CORPORATE FINANCE has supported the group ARTANA , French leader of offline and online “shopper marketing”, in securing a bridge financing round of EUR 1M from the Belgium crowdfunding platform Look&Fin and from several business angels, in order to maximize their growth (finance the development of a new software & strengthen their network of local agencies) – and therefore, to improve their results in view of the next equity fundraising of EUR 5M.
In a “shopper marketing” market that is still fragmented, this bridge fundraising will enable ARTANA to strengthen its leadership in France and abroad.
Founded in 2005 by marketing professionals Guillaume Raguet, Hamid Boutarbouch, Said Askri and Sandrine Hellegouach, ARTANA is a digital leader of “field shopper marketing”, offering brands and retailers a 360° set of solutions, offline and online, at a local and national scale – in particular through its agency NON STOP MEDIA.
It is the first player in France who can offer both offline and online “field shopper marketing” services, able to offer its services in more than 200 cities and 32,000 points of sales (shopping malls, supermarkets, cafés…) via a network of 20,000+ professional animators.
The group has gained the loyalty of many multinationals like Amazon, Orange, SFR, Bouygues Immobilier, Burger King, PepsiCo, Nestlé France…
Fabrice Lombardo, Founder & CEO of GEREJE, said: “Structuring this bridge financing round in the form of bonds enabled the group to sustain its growth, which now benefits from recurring revenue and constant improvement of its margins. Its good results will let us optimize the terms of its main fundraising round, still ongoing.
As M&A advisors, our capacity to close a deal with the best valuation possible is tightly linked to the achievement of forecasted results while we negotiate with investors. It is a strategic period for a company that we call “the immediate future”
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For the past 70 years, GESTAL has been providing to the most demanding industries (aerospace, naval, oil&gas, nuclear…) its unique know-how in infrastructure and production maintenance, its expertise in electric systems, pipes, locksmithing, metalwork, and production capabilities.
The historic owners of GESTAL have decided it was time to hand over the management of the company to its new general manager, Laurent GOBINET, and to let a new shareholder in to enable the quick development of the company in France and abroad. This expansion plan is supported by an ambitious strategy that should also meet the needs of its clients who outsource a growing share of the maintenance of their industrial infrastructure.
Fabrice LOMBARDO, Founder & CEO of GEREJE: “The key point of this sale is that we have demonstrated the true potential of the company in France and abroad, in particular through an acquisition strategy made relevant by the fragmented nature of the market.
Even in the case of a sell process, positive results are not enough to optimize the sale price. Especially when profits are high, it is the prospects of future growth that matter. It is also essential to prove to the buyer that the current manager or the managing team have the capabilities to execute the plan”.
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GEREJE has successfully supported the leading Vietnamese premium flash-sales platform LEFLAIR in its USD 7M fundraising, led by Cambodia-based VC Beltroad Capital Management and the South-Korean strategic investor GS Group. This round of funding will help strengthen LEFLAIR’s foothold in Vietnam and accelerate its growth in Southeast Asia.
LEFLAIR is a pioneer online flash-sales company in Vietnam. Created in 2015 by Loic Gautier and Pierre-Antoine Brun, it has reached a dominant position in its domestic market, counting as of today more than 1,400 brands from Vietnam and abroad, with over 1M unique visitors every month (3.2 M visits in Q1 2018).
Fabrice Lombardo, Founder & CEO of GEREJE Corporate Finance: “LEFLAIR has a very attractive potential in Vietnam – a high-growth, promising country but where some goods can still be hard to find. The platform’s concept can be replicated in other neighboring countries.
We are proud to have contributed in the successful closing of this fundraising round, which was highly strategic for LEFLAIR: this cash injection will enable it to consolidate its leadership in Vietnam, and to launch its regional development in Southeast Asia”
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For the past 5 years, GEREJE Corporate Finance has been supporting the Lyon-based real estate developer L’ART DE CONSTRUIRE in its funding operations.
After having raised more than EUR 8M from institutional funds and family offices between 2016 and 2017, GEREJE secured over EUR 3.3M in 2018 in order to finance new development projects.
Founded by Gérard BAILLEUL, L’ART DE CONSTRUIRE group is a recognized player of the real estate French scene, with more than 700 buildings and over 900,000 sqm built for a very diverse range of companies and industries. Today, the group generates an average EUR 70M revenue yearly.
“L’ART DE CONSTRUIRE, explains Fabrice LOMBARDO, Founder & CEO of GEREJE Corporate Finance, is one of our most important partners in the field of construction / development. These past few years, we have multiplied investment opportunities in this sector, in both forms of equity and bond debt, which offer solid guarantees (underlying assets) with attractive yields between 6 and 10% yearly when it comes to debt, and an average 15% IRR for equity.”
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GEREJE Corporate Finance has been supporting the crowdfunding platform WISEED in its fundraising operations since 2016. GEREJE has leveraged its expertise to structure an offer and federate institutional players and Family Offices, in an environment initially made for and dedicated to individuals.
WISEED is a crowdfunding leader in France and Europe, specialized in financing real estate development projects. They have helped fund nearly 300 projects all over France’s territory, offering an average annual yield of 9.5% to investors.
In 2018, GEREJE has helped raise EUR 1.5M to enable the acceleration of WISEED’s funding of real estate development projects in France.
Fabrice LOMBARDO, Founder & CEO of GEREJE said: “Geographical diversification, the quality of involved parties and of underlying assets offered by WISEED are attractive arguments for both individuals who invest directly through the platform, and for institutional funds that remain a strategic source of funding for such digital player.”
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GEREJE has successfully supported the shareholders of Asia-based LBX group, leading reusable bags provider, to prepare and optimize their sell process to the French industrial group AMIQUAR.
This deal will enable LBX to accelerate its penetration of new markets while offering to AMIQUAR a strategic foothold in Asia, and a way to optimize its production capacities. Asia remains dominant for global production, driven by its fast industrialization and high demand from China, India and Japan.
LBX group boasts a real know-how in both on-site quality control within its factories in Asia, and optimizing logistics between Asia and their main markets (Europe, Africa and South America). This know-how gives them the capacity to deliver “tailor-made” products to their clients in a quick and reliable fashion, while ensuring optimal quality.
According to Deloitte, sustainable packaging market is to grow consistently by 6.5% annually until 2024. This industry has seen a record number of transactions in 2017 with 307 deals vs. 294 in 2016 (PMCF index), based on average EBITDA multiples between 6x and 9.5x for the past 5 years (PCE report).
Fabrice LOMBARDO, Founder & CEO of GEREJE, said: “Even for a healthy and growing company like LBX, a sell operation requires shareholders to be prepared and supported on a daily basis, to enable them to focus on their business and thus optimize financial results for the closing phase. I would also like to emphasize the importance of deal structuring which, by taking into account the different expectations from each of the two shareholders, made us close the deal successfully. We also thank our partner Jean-Pierre CHOUVET from EURALLIA Finance, who introduced us to the buyer. Finally, I want to pay tribute to the professionalism of Thierry GOUGY, M&A lawyer from the firm CMD Avocats, whom we recommended to our client and who played an important part in the success of this deal.”
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GEREJE Corporate Finance has supported in 2018 BDL FRANCE group in the funding of a rehabilitation project for former military barracks in Dinan city – a project called “LA CASERNE DES OFFICERS” (“The Officers’ Residence”), which will be turned into thirty high-end appartments in a prestigious historical setting.
Founded by the international designer David Rondel, BDL FRANCE is a real estate developer specialized in renovating and rehabilitating collective and individual housing buildings in the Dinan region.
Harold David Rondel, Managing Director of BDL Group, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with GEREJE team, who gave us useful advice based on their experience. To be successful in our project, we needed an important amount of capital, and quite fast. These two criteria have been very well met by GEREJE, in addition to their excellent recommendations. We are already in discussion with GEREJE for a second project in France.”
Fabrice LOMBARDO, Founder & CEO of GEREJE: “Traditional kinds of funding through banks are not enough, especially when the company / the entrepreneur are coming from abroad and don’t necessarily have a track record in France. Our team is equipped to find solutions to structure the most suitable kinds of funding. Of course, I must acknowledge the solidity and quality of the projects; and I would like to stress that the market in France – but also in Europe and Asia – has more investors than projects: we always find investors willing to support serious projects.”
View external linkThe company has raised capital from a Family Office and the investment arm of a Multinational company to support its international growth.
The company offers digital solutions to analyse large amounts of data coming from search engines, e-commerce and the behaviour of digital consumers, which enables its clients to unleash their growth potential.
The Big Data software market is still following a strong growing trend, reaching a total value of more than USD 30 Bn in 2018, a 14% increase vs. 2017, according to Forrester.
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GEREJE has supported DESIMO in refinancing the real estate project MAJESTY, a housing project located in the city of Sceaux.
DESIMO Group is the result of a collaboration between two real estate development experts, specialized in collective housing projects (E-PROMOTION and SETHI). It has become a key player in the region of Troyes and Paris in the past 20 years, with over 15 successful housing projects to its track record.
Fabrice LOMBARDO, CEO of GEREJE, said: “The work we have done with DESIMO team shows that tailor-made financing solutions allow a company to rapidly improve its cash flow – especially in the real estate industry. After having conducted an analysis of current and future cash flows, we have structured a refinancing process that enabled DESIMO to bring back some liquidity (guaranteed by immobilized assets), in order to focus on the group’s development and the planning for future projects.”
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In 2018, GEREJE has supported THE COLOSSAL FACTORY in its capital raising from Family Offices and Business Angels. This funding round has enabled the company to strengthen its commercial & technical teams, in preparation of the launch of its “chatbot” called Zoé, an automated conversational robot for the hospitality industry.
Founded in 2016, THE COLOSSAL FACTORY offers hospitality professionals a solution to increase their revenue thanks to automated 24/7 interactions, relevant and efficient for users.
The solution already gained the trust of many hotel chains, as well as prestigious players like Opera, Airbnb and Booking.com.
Fabrice LOMBARDO, Founder & CEO of GEREJE: “Chatbots are increasingly used by companies of all sizes, from MNCs to startups. Sectors like banking, distribution and health especially will be impacted, with potential savings up to USD 11 Bn per year by 2023, against USD 6 Bn today in 2018.”
View external linkThe team of GEREJE Corporate Finance has been supporting the real estate developer NOVASTRADA for 2 years in optimizing its funding in the form of equity and / or bond debt contracted with Family Offices and Wealth Managers.
Founded by Arnauld Chemel and Emmanuelle Laurent, two real estate development professionals, NOVASTRADA group is a French real estate developer specialized in residential building projects in Paris region for the past 8 years. After having co-developed several projects (more than 600 properties delivered for EUR 130M of revenue over 4 years), the group now handles 100% of the development of its projects, and now plans to develop over 500 properties for a total value of EUR 100M.
“The underlying logic of the real estate market makes it necessary, even for a recognized player like NOVASTRADA, to use private debt as a form of funding, additionally to other forms of traditional funding like banking loan or equity – explains Fabrice LOMBARDO, Founder & CEO of GEREJE. We are pragmatic because our objective is to provide all funding options possible so that our clients can finance their projects.”
Ms. Emmanuelle LAURENT, CEO of NOVASTRADA: “GEREJE is a human-sized financial advisory company, able to give recommendations to their clients and above all to support them in tough moments. They make themselves constantly available, always in high spirits – which is very important for entrepreneurs like us.”
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GEREJE Corporate Finance has been supporting since 2015 BEL AIR FINE ART, a group of modern & contemporary art galleries founded by François CHABANIAN and his son Gregory in 2004.
After a first fundraising round with APICAP to finance the launch of a gallery in Venice in November 2015, APICAP has decided to trust BEL AIR FINE ART again in 2016 and 2017, alongside the public institutional fund BPI. These funding rounds have enabled the opening of a gallery in Cannes, a showroom in Paris and a new main gallery in Saint-Tropez.
BPI has renewed its trust once again after INITIATIVE & FINANCE, a key historical player in the financing support of French SMES since 1984, has taken shares in the company. This will enable BEL AIR FINE ART to further structure and develop its activities, while already considered one of the first European players in this field.
BEL AIR FINE ART group is already active in Switzerland (Geneva, Gstaad, Verbier, Crans-Montana), in France (Paris – Place des Vosges; Saint-Tropez; Cannes), Italy (Venice, Pietra Santa); Spain (Marbella) and Belgium with its brand-new gallery (Knokke-Le-Zoute). The group also has a strong global footprint through international art shows and exhibitions, in particular in Libanon and the US (Miami).
View external linkGEREJE Corporate Finance has been supporting in 2018 the prestigious brand “PARFUMS DE MARLY” in its search for strategic distributors in Southeast Asia. The company has started a collaboration with the specialized distributor TANG HONG FAR EAST. Thanks to this partnership, the brand’s perfumes will be distributed in the most prestigious shopping malls in Cambodia and Vietnam.
Launched in 2010, PARFUMS DE MARLY pays tribute to French History, and more specifically to Louis XV. The company has a collection of 22 perfumes with a deliberate segmentation between men and women, unlike most niche perfume brands.
With the strengthening of its distribution capabilities and strategic investments to promote its image and develop its points of sales, the company – which is in the top 10 niche perfume brands – now has all the resources to reinforce its position among the most attractive brands of high-end perfumes, in France and abroad.
Fabrice LOMBARDO, Founder & CEO of GEREJE: “As new brands of niche perfumes keep appearing, the perfume market has been consolidating in the past few years with a +13% growth of M&A transactions in this sector in 2017.
Valuations too are on the rise, with an average EV/EBITDA multiple of 13.8x in 2017 (against 12.9x in 2016), and still a strong appetite of two kinds of players:
Premium perfume market in Asia has doubled in 10 years. It is only the beginning of a trend that marks a double-digit growth since 2017 and that remains 20 times smaller than the US market / 60 times smaller than the UK market. The challenge for these new brands is to find serious partners able to invest in them with a long-term ROI objective, whereas most investors – especially in Asia – prefer safety and immediate profits that only established brands can offer. Our expertise of the luxury & lifestyle market, as well as our 20-year long experience in Asia have enabled us to find the right partner”.
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Founded in 2015, UNABIZ offers solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT), aiming to accelerate the adoption of this technology globally.
UNABIZ is the exclusive operator in Singapore and Taiwan of leading LPWAN network operator SIGFOX, which provides cost-efficient solutions for the IoT with optimized energy consumption.
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