Apax Partners Backs Groupe Dagard MBO

Apax Partners & Cie, which is in the process of raising its fifth fund (story, page 5), in July completed the MBO of Groupe Dagard, France’s leading manufacturer of thermal and isolation panels.

Dagard’s panels are used in the construction of cold storage facilities and food and chemicals processing plants, and the company is also the domestic market leader in the design and manufacture of “clean rooms” for the pharmaceutical and electronics industries. The company, which has a workforce of nearly 500, achieved sales of FFr 500 million (ecu 76 million) in 1997.

Funds managed by Apax partners, together with the quoted co-investment vehicle Altamir, took a majority stake in Dagard. Charterhouse SA and existing Dagard shareholders also invested in the buyout, together with the management team and many of the company’s staff. The new owners intend to expand the group both in France and elsewhere in Europe, particularly in the Iberian peninsula, where Dagard has captured a substantial market share in recent years.