Anaveo, a French provider of electronic security solutions to small and medium sized businesses, has been acquired by Bridgepoint Development Capital from its majority shareholder (M. Paul Surand) and minority financial investors (CM CIC, Garibaldi Participations and Viveris), for an undisclosed sum. Bpifrance and Paluel Marmont Capital partnered with BDC in the equity financing of the transaction.

Established in 1995 and headquartered in Lyon, Anaveo specialises in security solutions such as video surveillance, security access control and intrusion detection. All solutions are devised and designed by the company's in-house R&D team. Its security systems have been installed at over 8,000 sites throughout France for a predominantly retail client base of mostly independent retailers, as well as larger integrated chains.

Anaveo has sales of over €50m, with a network of 11 agencies and 250 employees across France. In 2011, it opened a subsidiary in China to set up a direct sourcing strategy and establish a commercial presence there.

Paul Surand, founder and majority shareholder of Anaveo, said: "Anaveo has delivered an impressive annual growth rate of 25% over the past 15 years and is now the preferred partner of SMEs for their security solutions. Bridgepoint has a strong strategic understanding of the company and its environment. With them as our new majority shareholder, Anaveo is strongly positioned to take up new, ambitious challenges."

Anaveo chief executive, Gregory Louis, added: "The support offered by our partnership with Bridgepoint will enable us to accelerate Anaveo's development in many new market segments, both organically and through a buy and build strategy."

Olivier Nemsguern, head of Bridgepoint Development Capital France, commented: "Anaveo's differentiated expertise, product reliability and ease of use have enabled it to outperform the market, with double digit organic growth. This sector remains highly fragmented, providing an exciting opportunity for Anaveo to increase market share and extend its reach to the corporate and local authority sectors."

Video surveillance is a niche and growing market within the resilient French electronic security sector. Anaveo stands to benefit from the growing penetration of video surveillance solutions in the retail space, thanks to technological developments such as the progressive shift within its target installed base from analogue to IP systems. With Anaveo's recent product launches comes the potential to sell into the larger, adjacent €2bn access control market.

Debt financing for the transaction was provided by Permira Debt Advisers.

Advisers involved in the transaction included:

- for Bridgepoint: Mayer Brown (legal), Rothschild (debt advisory), Deloitte (financial due diligence), LEK (strategic due diligence), Taj (legal, tax, social due diligence)

- for Anaveo: Aelios Finance (M&A), Barbe & Associés (legal)