SCOTTO & ASSOCIES assists the managing team at the Afflelou Group during its LBO

Paris, 2 May 2012

The investment fund Bridgepoint, a majority shareholder in the Afflelou Group, has granted exclusivity regarding the transfer of the Afflelou Group to the investment fund Lion Capital as part of its tender offer valuing the group at €800 million.

With almost 1,100 franchisees, the Afflelou Group reported a turnover of €785 million in 2011.

The management, represented by its chief executive officers, Frédéric Poux and Didier Pascual, was assisted in this transaction by Scotto & Associés, with a team formed of Nicolas Menard-Durand and Adrien Badelon for the legal aspects, and our tax team, in cooperation with Banque Privée 1818 for the financial aspects, whose team was formed of Frédéric Balochard and Benjamin Lobel.

This transaction is yet another credit to the SCOTTO & ASSOCIÉS private equity team, the leading advisers to management teams during the largest LBO transactions in the last ten years (recently, SPIE, Converteam and Picard).

Lion Capital was advised by the merchant bank Lazard (Isabelle Xoual) and the law firm SJ Berwin (Maxence Bloch and Thomas Maitrejean).