Levine Keszler advises the management team of the Efectis group on a capital restructuring led by CTICM and Fonds France Nucléaire, with support from Bpifrance.

Levine Keszler advises the management team of the Efectis group on a capital restructuring led by CTICM and Fonds France Nucléaire, with support from Bpifrance

The capital restructuring of the Efectis group, a specialist in fire performance assessment, is being led by the CTICM and the Fonds France Nucléaire, with support from Bpifrance. This will enable the management team to acquire a stake in the company and see the Dutch fund FDI exit.

Created in 2006 by CTICM (Centre Technique des Industries de la Construction Métallique) and TNO, based in Saint Aubin (91) and chaired by Daniel Joyeux, Efectis is an independent ICT (Testing, Inspection, Certification) group specialising in fire and explosion risk assessment. Its offering covers a whole range of services centred on fire resistance and reaction testing (construction products, roofing, facades, electrical cables), inspection and certification (CE and UKCA marking of construction products), and engineering and expertise services.

The group’s diverse customer base includes product and equipment manufacturers, operators and plant and infrastructure operators. The ISO 19443-certified group is EDF’s preferred service provider for fire testing and qualification of nuclear power plant equipment. The nuclear sector is one of the drivers of development, both for operators (CEA, Andra, in addition to EDF) and for equipment suppliers in the industry.

Efectis is the French leader in its field of fire safety and fire science and is actively expanding in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Turkey in order to address the Middle Eastern markets. Thanks to its cutting-edge operational resources and the expertise of its teams, which enable it to meet increasingly critical needs, Efectis is experiencing steady growth. The group currently employs 300 people and has a turnover of nearly €40 million.

Following this capital reorganisation and the exit of the Dutch fund FDI, Fonds France Nucléaire and Bpifrance have become new shareholders alongside the management team, led by its Chairman Daniel Joyeux and Thomas Potel, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, alongside CTICM, which remains Efectis’ reference shareholder.

This transaction, built around a French shareholder base, aims to support Efectis in its continued development in France and internationally, capitalising on its position as a leading expert, which will enable it to strengthen its business lines. The development plan is based on a dynamic investment programme. In addition to organic growth, Efectis also aims to expand through targeted acquisitions in a sector offering opportunities for consolidation.

Levine Keszler advised the Efectis group’s management team on this transaction.

Advisors to the Efectis group’s management team:
Levine Keszler (Nicolas de Courtivron): legal aspects
Clémence Darné-Lajoux: tax aspects

Advisors to CTICM
Bureau Brandeis (David Reingewirtz, Damien Meyniel): legal aspects
Eversheds Sutherland (Philippe de Guyenro, Marine Cousin): tax aspects
Abergel & Associés (Romain Lobstein): financial advisor/expert

Advice from the France Nucléaire Fund and Bpifrance
Nova Partners (Olivier Nett, Erwan Savoia, Catherine Diril, Emma Spitz, Meriem Larbi, Agnès Lieutier): legal and tax aspects
Pint Avocats (Cendrine Claviez, Lorraine Petit, Marie Poncin): intellectual property and GDPR due diligence
Oderis (Aurélien Vion, Louis Templier, Clara Jimenez, Capucine Sarton Du Jonchay, Moustapha Baila Ba): Financial due diligence

Bank advisors
Agilys Avocats (David Kalfon, Samy Ayad, Soraya Rafi)

The full press release is available in the attached file(fr).