Hivest Capital’s portfolio company, Agora, has signed an agreement to acquire The Placemakers, creating a pan European leader in public lighting and urban furniture  

Maxéville, Resana, May 31^st 2023 – Holding Agora Technologies S.A.S. (“Holding Agora”, “Agora”, “The Group”), the French leader in public lighting, backed by private equity firm Hivest Capital Partners S.A.S. (“Hivest Capital”), has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire The Placemakers (“TPM”), the Italian leader in the design and manufacturing of street furniture, from the Bertino and Tasca families. The combination of Agora and TPM will create a pan-European group, generating over €230m in combined revenues and able to address the needs of municipalities across both public lighting and urban furniture segments. In the context of the transaction, current TPM shareholders will join the new group as minority shareholders.

TPM produces a wide range of street furniture products, commercialized in Italy and worldwide under 3 flagship brands with distinct positionings: Metalco, the Italian reference in premium customizable street furniture, Bellitalia, offering high-end concrete urban furniture and landscaping solutions, and City Design, a street stylist brand offering functional and reliable products. Founded in 1984 by Alfredo Tasca and Claudio Bertino, TPM brings together several companies in Italy, France, Brazil and Qatar, and has developed, through its network of agents and distributors, a commercial presence in 50 countries. TPM operates 5 manufacturing sites in Italy, Brazil and Qatar and employs a total of c. 280 employees, 15 of which focus on the design and development of new products to create ever more comfortable, inclusive and sustainable living places.

Born from the combination of Eclatec and GHM in 2005, and controlled by Hivest Capital since May 2022, Agora specializes in the design, production and sale of public lighting solutions and urban furniture. The Group is historically known for a number of Parisian landmarks such as the Wallace fountains and Guimard metro entrances; it today builds on its 4 production sites and 16 commercial agencies to provide municipalities in France and abroad with a range of solutions encompassing LED lighting, utilities poles, smart devices as well as street furniture.

By acquiring TPM, Agora will, on the one hand, significantly enlarge its manufacturing capabilities and product offering towards the street furniture segment. Agora plans to leverage TPM’s unique capabilities and know-how to meet the expectations of the French market in street furniture and strategically complement its public lighting and street furniture portfolio. The business combination will also, on the other hand, generate sizeable commercial and design synergies in Italy, with the objective for TPM to complete its product offering and roll-out Agora’s ranges of LED luminaires and street poles (steel and cast iron) on the Italian market. The acquisition is further expected to strongly accelerate the Group’s international development, in Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle-East in particular, as a result of TPM’s wide commercial footprint.

Alfredo Tasca, Francesco Bertino, Daniela Bertino, Massimo Tasca and Marina Tasca, shareholders and top managers of TPM will continue to manage TPM post-acquisition within the newly-formed group.

David Lelièvre, President of Holding Agora: “We are thrilled to welcome TPM, along with the Bertino and Tasca families, into the Agora group. The acquisition of TPM is a key milestone for Agora and will act as a catalyst in deploying our ambitious growth strategy for the Group.”

Francesco Bertino, CEO of TPM: “Since our first meeting, it was clear our two companies share a similar purpose – to equip and beautify public places – and our teams a common culture, embedded in innovation & entrepreneurship. We are convinced that the combination will bring significant value creation and we look forward to our close future partnership.”

ABOUT AGORA

Agora specializes in the design, production and sale of public lighting, utilities poles, smart solutions and street furniture equipment under it two brands Eclatec and GHM. The Group’s commercial organisation relies on a network of agencies in France as well as a sales subsidiary in the Netherlands. The Group employs a workforce of 620 through its 4 French subsidiaries, all located in the Eastern part of France – Eclatec (Maxéville), GHM (Sommevoire), Metalec (Juvaincourt), and TTT (Toul).

ABOUT TPM

Based in Castelminio di Resana (Treviso, Italy), TPM designs and produces street furniture products and urban solutions, under brands Metalco, Bellitalia and City Design. TPM has developed a global presence, thanks to its dense network of agents and distributors, and is also notably firmly established in Brazil through its subsidiary The Placemakers do Brasil (Flores da Cunha). The group employs c. 280 employees.

ABOUT HIVEST CAPITAL PARTNERS

With c.€500m under management, Hivest Capital is an independent French private equity firm, approved by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers. Hivest Capital invests in SMEs or mid-cap  companies, with turnovers between €50m and €500m, in the context of buyout or capital expansion projects. Hivest Capital’s objective is to help companies reach their full potential by implementing ambitious growth strategies and improving operational performance.

LIST OF PARTIES INVOLVED

• Buy-side
  • Investor
    • Holding Agora: David Lelièvre, Sandrine Valero
    • Hivest Capital Partners : Cédric Lépée, Axel Bonnassies, Barthélemy Grave, Marie Réveilhac, Frédéric Ramé
  • Financing – Rothschild & Co: Grégory Fradelizi, Nicolas Levy, Juliette Malard
  • Legal counsel
    • Corporate (Italy) – Gitti & Partners: Vincenzo Giannantonio, Giacomo Pansolli, Antonino Di Salvo
    • Corporate (France) – Hogan Lovells: Stephane Huten, Ali Chegra
    • Tax & structuring (Italy) – Gitti & Partners: Gianluigi Strambi, Mattia Gigliotti
    • Tax & structuring (France) – CJA: Jean Goncalves
    • Financing – Mayer Brown: Patrick Teboul, Marion Minard
    • Due diligence (Brazil) – Cascione Advogados: Guilherme Bertolini, Rafael Vega, Lucas Markan, Pedro Henrique Silva Rizzo
    • Due diligence (France) – Racine: Maud Bakouche, Alice Malaise
  • Financial due diligence – Alvarez & Marsal: Davide Ganzer, Giorgio Perconti, Davide Taglietti, Riccardo Dissegna
  • Strategic due diligence – Roland Berger: Andrea Bassanino, Francesco Ruccione, Alessandro Grigolon
  • Insurance due diligence – Marsh: Jean-Marie Dargaignaratz, Charline Courtemanche
  • IT due diligence – Netsystem: Lionel Gros, Cévina Preira

• Sell-side
  • Sellers: Alfredo Tasca, Francesco Bertino, Daniela Bertino, Massimo Tasca, Marina Tasca
  • M&A advisor – Banca Finint: Andrea Chiappa, Pietro Favale, Simone Rasera
  • Legal Counsel – Advant NCTM: Lucia Corradi, Valentina Salvadori, Francesca Sako
  • Financial due diligence – PwC: Alessandro Curri, Foucault Dunoyer, Matteo Gubitta, Nicolas da Silva, Clément Thinque
  • IP advisor – Studio SFP: Gherardo Piovesana

CONTACT

Hivest Capital Partners: Barthélemy Grave; barthelemy@hivestcapital.com