Ladreit de La Charrière alongside Bain to buy Equans from Engie

By fashionlifeshopping 01/12/2022 708 Views

With less than two weeks before the submission of firm offers for the acquisition of Equans, Bain Capital has found a key asset. Determined to take control of this group of energy services (12.5 billion in turnover, 74,000 employees worldwide, including 26,000 in France) put up for sale by Engie, the American investment fund is acquiring with a "French touch". Fimalac, founded and managed by Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, will indeed make common cause with Bain Capital. The information, revealed by lesechos.fr, was confirmed by the investment fund.

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Ladreit de La Charrière alongside Bain to buy Equans from Engie

The arrival of Fimalac could undermine a key argument raised by the two other candidates for the takeover of Equans: Bouygues and Eiffage. These industrialists waved their blue-white-red flag to stand out from the star-spangled banner of the Bain Capital investment fund.

Flexibility

The latter is now supported by Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, a figure of the Parisian establishment. Bain will remain the controlling shareholder of Equans if it wins the auction. But he will not have more than 78% of the capital. Fimalac will have 20%.

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The price evoked by observers for Equans is between 5 and 6 billion euros. Fimalac's investment - around 1 to 1.2 billion euros - is substantial. It is possible that Engie will retain a 20% stake in Equans. Bain also proposes to leave room for Bpifrance (5% to 10% of the capital) if the armed wing of the State so wishes. Finally, employees will quickly have 2% of the capital, before rising to 5% in five to six years.

Some observers doubted Bain's motivation, especially since all the other investment funds (Carlyle, Apollo, CVC or PAI) having studied the file have thrown in the towel. But the ability of the American to adapt his offer, in particular his flexibility regarding the share of the capital of Equans that he could hold, shows that his interest in the file is not feigned.

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