Activa recaps Mont Blanc and Delpharm

Activa Capital, a French mid-market private equity firm, has carried out refinancings of portfolio companies Mont Blanc, a French dessert brand, and Delpharm, a pharmaceutical company.
 
Activa Capital has refinanced Mont Blanc, a 2003 acquisition from global food group Nestlé. Investment bank IKB, the lead bank in the 2003 buyout, provided the financing for the transaction, which has returned 75 percent of the original undisclosed equity investment to investors.
 
Following the refinancing, Activa Capital will maintain its 95 percent stake in Mont Blanc. The firm completed an earlier refinancing of Mont Blanc in October 2005 in order to acquire Nestlé’s remaining 19 percent stake in the company, increasing its stake from 76 percent. Mont Blanc’s management own the balance. The transaction also allowed Mont Blanc to purchase the Gloria brand of concentrated milk from Nestlé for an undisclosed sum.
 
Activa Capital has also returned 73 percent of the equity investment in Delpharm to investors, with financing provided by Banque Fortis, the lead bank on the original management buyout in 2004. The firm said that it will maintain a majority stake in Deltapharm following the refinancing.
 
Activa Capital acquired Delpharm in a spin-out from Aguettant Santé in 2004. In May, Delpharm acquired the French manufacturing plant of global pharmaceutical company Schering.
 
Mont Blanc and Delpharm are investments from Activa Capital Fund, which closed on €162 million ($206 million) in late 2003. Investors in the fund, which is just over 50 percent invested, were Hermes Pensions Management, AG2R, Partners Group, Proventure and Scottish Widows.
 
Activa Capital has completed three management buyouts in 2006: BFI Optilas, an electronic and photonic products specialist; French procurement business Logitrade; and Créal, a manufacturer of aluminium windows.