Bridgepoint in the News
13 May 2011
Bridgepoint to acquire French residential property management services group Foncia from BPCE
Foncia, the French leader in property management services, is to be acquired by Bridgepoint and Eurazeo from its current banking owner BPCE for an undisclosed sum.
With operations in France, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium and a network of 600 agencies and almost 7000 employees, Foncia focuses on three principal activities: property management, lease management & rental services and property sales including ancillary services such as credit and insurance brokerage. In 2010 the company generated €83m of EBITDA on revenues of €580m.
The business currently manages over 1 million dwellings in France where it is the market leader and its leasing & rental business is responsible for a further 250,000 properties.
The residential property management services market in France is estimated to be worth €8 billion and has grown at an overall rate of 3.5% p.a. over the last 10 years. The fragmented nature of the sector, which is mostly composed of small independent players, is expected to offer strong opportunities for consolidation and further penetration of its services.
Benoit Bassi, partner responsible for Bridgepoint's investment activities in France, said: "We are very pleased to have reached agreement with Foncia and together with Eurazeo we will work closely with management to accelerate the company's growth, focussing on improving its technology and investing in its staff. Having performed robustly through the downturn due to the 'sticky' nature of its customer base, Foncia will now focus on becoming the undisputed European leader in property services management."
Yves Gévin, Foncia's chairman, added: "The whole Executive Committee is pleased with this operation that it fully supports. Eurazeo and Bridgepoint completely share our ambition. Their human and financial support will allow us to keep developing Foncia and to become first in class in the sector of residential real estate services."
The transaction is subject to standard staff representative bodies and competition authority clearances. Under the terms of the agreement, BPCE will reinvest €200m in the transaction. Debt financing for the acquisition will total €395m.