With the sale of Talentia Software to Argos Soditic, Bryan, Garnier & Co completes one of the largest software transactions in France in 2015 and the 6th consecutive transaction with the company
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Paris, January 12th, 2016 – Talentia Software, a leading European Performance Management software vendor, announces its secondary Management Buy-Out with Argos Soditic.
Following 4 years alongside Fondations Capital and Women Equity Partners which saw the Group increase its revenue by 80%, Talentia has joined a new majority financial partner, Argos Soditic, to pursue its strong and profitable growth strategy. During this period, the Company successfully completed its product diversification strategy towards Human Capital Management (HCM) and Corporate Performance Management (CPM) through both internal and external growth initiatives.
This transaction will enable Talentia, which reported a 2015 turnover of more than EUR 55 million, of which 25% outside of France, to leverage Argos Soditic’s expertise in growth and innovation in order to pursue its global expansion whilst continuing to achieve technological and operational excellence.
6th transaction and 2nd MBO led by Bryan, Garnier & Co for the Company since 2007.
Bryan, Garnier & Co has acted as an advisor to Talentia’s shareholders and CEO Viviane Chaine-Ribeiro in both of the Company’s MBOs as well as its 4 past external growth transactions, supporting the group’s product portfolio enhancement and geographic expansion to the UK, Italy, Spain and Greece.
“This transaction is another illustration of Bryan, Garnier & Co’s commitment to provide long term financial and strategic support to European technology companies at each stage of their development. Talentia’s new MBO is the 6th transaction in a row led by Bryan, Garnier & Co, having previously advised the acquisition of AS Group, the acquisition of Arcole, the first management buy-out of the Company, the acquisition of Prisme, and the acquisition of Cezanne Software in 2013. Talentia’s track record of growth and innovation is the perfect example of what we strive to help our clients achieve. We believe that Argos Soditic is the ideal partner for the Group to begin this new chapter, bringing their experience and commitment to a growth story led by Viviane Chaine-Ribeiro and an exceptionally driven management” stated Greg Revenu, Bryan, Garnier & Co Managing Partner.
Viviane Chaine-Ribeiro, Talentia CEO, added that “following a period of growth supported by Fondations Capital, and our partnership with Bryan, Garnier & Co, I am confident in our ability to pursue our expansion. Thanks to Bryan, Garnier & Co’s support, we have found an ideal partner, with whom we have established a strategy based on organic and external development, as well as the reinforcement of our R&D capacities. This plan will enable us to provide our clients with a range of increasingly performant and international products.
Gontran Duchesne, Fondations Capital France CEO, concluded that “We are extremely proud of Talentia Software’s development since 2011, and grateful for the support provided by Bryan, Garnier & Co. During this new transaction, Bryan, Garnier & Co’s commitment and industry knowledge were key assets in ensuring all parties’ interests were aligned. We strongly believe that Talentia Software will pursue its development with its new shareholder, with the ambition to become the leading European Performance Management Software vendor.”
Thibaut De Smedt, Head of Bryan, Garnier & Co’s European software practice was pleased to announce that “this transaction is Bryan, Garnier & Co’s 22nd transaction in the TMT sectors over the past 12 months, the 12th in the software sector, and the 15th carried out with private equity firms. Recent landmark transactions include the acquisition of Metrologic by Astorg – France’s largest software transaction in 2015, the investment of Keensight in the leading Fintech software vendor smartTrade, the EUR 25m fundraising of Jahia carried out with Invus, or the USD 17m private placement for the leading German IoT company Tado last year.”
Participants
Talentia Software: Viviane Chaine-Ribeiro, CEO and President of Syntec Federation
Bryan, Garnier & Co: Greg Revenu (Managing Partner), Alexandre Boukhari (Director), Griffin Woollgar (Analyst)
Fondations Capital: Gontran Duchesne (CEO – Fondations Capital France)
Argos Soditic: Louis Godron (Chairman), Raphaël Bazin (Investment Manager), Thomas Ribereau (Analyst)
About Talentia
Talentia Software is a software vendor focusing on Financial Performance Management solutions (accounting, consolidation, reporting, and budgeting) and Human Capital solutions (salaries, HR IT solutions, and talent management) for corporate clients. With a portfolio of over 3,600 clients of diverse size (SMEs, Mid-Caps, and Multinationals) and activities, Talentia Software is a reference player in Operational Performance Management systems. The Group’s offering encompasses the HR/HCM and Finance/CPM ranges, under both SaaS and license models and including comprehensive services. The Talentia Software teams, primarily based in Europe, are fully dedicated to reaching the highest client satisfaction levels across the globe.
About Argos Soditic
Argos Soditic is an independent European private equity group with offices in Paris, Milan, Brussels and Geneva. Since its creation in 1989, Argos Soditic has carried out more than 50 transactions focusing on management buy-outs and buy-ins in small and medium-sized companies. Argos Soditic typically takes majority stakes ranging from €5m to €60m in companies with revenues of €20m to €400m.
With €675m under management, the firm has developed a track record of unusual, complex and off-market transactions where the firm’s combination of local presence and international experience is able to add value to the small and medium-sized businesses it invests in.