Business & Tech-enabled Services, M&A

Bryan, Garnier & Co acts as Sole Financial Advisor to Canon on the sale of Canon France Business Services to Paragon

Founded in 1995, CFBS is an outsourcing specialist in Document Management in France, managing documents and data for back office, and creating digital services for businesses in a secure certified environment.

Thanks to this acquisition, Paragon is consolidating its presence in BPS services and becoming a leading player in this field in France. CFBS, with its management culture focused on customer satisfaction and its recognised expertise in IT security and processing optimisation technologies, will become a key pillar of Paragon’s growth.

Combining the skills and resources of the two companies will accelerate the group’s development in BPS, while offering high added value to existing customers.

Bryan, Garnier & Co acted as Sole Financial Advisor to Canon on the sale of Canon France Business Services to Paragon, a leading provider of BPO services.

Bryan, Garnier & Co conducted a competitive process involving local and international BPO companies, as well as financial sponsors.

This marks another landmark transaction for Bryan, Garnier & Co’s Business & Tech-enabled Services practice and is a further demonstration of its expertise in BPO sector. It is the third transaction with the Canon group, after the sale of HTS division of Iris Group, part of Canon, to Livia Group in 2020 and the sale of Canon German Document Outsourcing Services to ASC Investment in 2019.

"Bryan Garnier's team played a pivotal role in allowing us to find the best partner. We are thrilled to be embarking on this exciting journey with Hg, as they are the ideal match to accelerate our R&D and product innovation, particularly in the fields of AI and IoT."

— Fabien Breget - CEO of Nomadia

Founded in 1995, CFBS is an outsourcing specialist in Document Management in France, managing documents and data for back office, and creating digital services for businesses in a secure certified environment. In its skills centres or on customer sites, CFBS supports companies in their digitisation, from the dematerialisation and processing of document flows to the complete management of their business processes. As an accelerator of the digital transformation of companies, CFBS offers solutions based on its technological expertise, which includes AI, and on the expertise of its employees. CFBS also offers a wide range of cloud solutions tailored to the needs of organisations and compliant with regulations. These digital solutions can be accessed at any time, in full web mode (on a standard browser or in a mobile version), enabling rapid integration and deployment. What sets CFBS apart is its commitment to data security. It is the only player on the market to be ISO 27001 certified, from its Competence Centres in France to its highly secure Cloud. In eight years, this unique positioning in the French market has enabled CFBS to manage data from the most sensitive sectors. As a result, some of the biggest names in the defence, nuclear, health insurance and banking sectors have become customers.

Paragon is the expert partner in the transformation of organisations and businesses: outsourcing, automation, optimisation and digitalisation. By combining multi-generational experience and cutting-edge technologies, Paragon enables increasingly interactive and rewarding exchanges between companies and their customers. Through its complementary business lines, Paragon is positioned as a leader in omnichannel communication and outsourcing. Its solutions cover the full range of requirements for solving its customers’ problems: delegation of purchasing, print, supply chain delegation, digital intermediation and local communication platforms, customer relationship management, business process transformation and direct marketing. Over 100 years old, the Paragon group has more than 9,700 employees in 20 countries, spread over 4 zones, including 1,500 employees at Paragon Western Europe (+ 23 operational sites in France). The group applies its resolutely CSR values in all its strategic decisions: acquisitions, partnerships and investments. Paragon is building its future through the prism of sustainable development and social responsibility. Paragon has group-wide sales of almost €1,500m.