Granville Takes Slice of French IT Services Group

Granville Private Equity Managers has invested an undisclosed sum for a 31% holding in SII, a French IT services company operating in the utilities, automotive, aerospace and telecoms sectors.

The December investment was announced shortly after the opening of Granville’s office in Germany and its first German investment, Elmeg (EVCJ December 1997/January 1998, page 7). Like Elmeg, the SII deal is in line with GPEM’s strategy of investing outside the UK only in sectors where the group has a particular focus: the buoyant IT services market, where the group is able to draw on the skills of parent Granville’s specialist IT team, is one such key area.

Simon Havers of GPEM said that SII has established a strong competitive position based on its reputation for high quality staff and stability. The company, which was founded in 1979, operates in the utilities, automotive, aerospace and telecoms sectors, with a customer base including groups such as Renault, Thomson, Matra, IBM, Digital, Air France, Bull and Lucent Technologies. For the year to March 1997, SII recorded pre-tax profits of FFr 11 million (ecu 1.7 million) on its FFr 94 million turnover.

The new capital will support expansion of the business. Simon Havers said “We believe SII is a strong platform for growth through geographic expansion and, in the longer term, through acquisition”.

GPEM’s investment was the first private equity backing raised by SII. Founding managing director Bernard Huve is the largest single shareholder in the company.