[Press Release] Armatis-lc refinances its debt to accelerate its development

Paris, 16 July 2015

Press Release

armatis-lc refinances its debt to accelerate its development

In May 2012, Activa Capital became the lead majority shareholder of the French call centre company to organise the merger of Laser Contact with Armatis, under the management of Armatis' founding CEO, Denis Akriche.

Over the last 3 years, Armatis-lc has developed its local activities in Poland and opened a platform in Porto (Portugal) to serve the French market with a high added-value near-shore offer. With 7,000 employees based in 12 platforms in France and 3 internationally, Armatis-lc is now one of the Top-3 leading French call centre operators.

In July 2015, Armatis-lc has successfully refinanced its debt. 

BNP Paribas coordinated the raising of an all senior financing, with the participation of all the pool of Armatis-lc's existing banks, as well as two new lenders Neuflize OBC and Artemid. This refinancing dramatically decreases the cost of its debt through the complete reimbursement of its senior and mezzanine debt, and a partial repayment of the shareholders' bonds. It will also facilitate the financing of its pan-European external growth strategy - a key development area for the management.

For Charles Diehl, Partner at Activa Capital, « this refinancing is the result of the excellent work realised by Denis Akriche and his team to integrate Laser Contact, develop major customer accounts and diversify its offer with the Porto platform. The new financial conditions will allow Armatis-lc to further accelerate its development. »

Participants

Armatis-lc: Denis Akriche, Cécile Rousset

Activa Capital: Grégory Fradelizi, Frédéric Singer

Senior debt: Coordinator: BNP Paribas (Guillaume Redaud, Thibaut Lecoeur). Lenders: Crédit du Nord, Palatine, Neuflize OBC, Artemid, Idinvest.

Company advisors: Mayer Brown Financing (Patrick Teboul, Maud Bischoff, Marion Minard), Corporate (Jérémy Thézée, Lou-Andréa Bouet)

Legal advisors Senior Lender: DLA Piper (Maud Manon, Julien Godlewski)

About Activa Capital

Activa Capital is a leading French mid-market private equity firm.

Activa Capital manages close to €600m of private equity funds on behalf of a wide range of institutional investors. Activa Capital partners with ambitious mid-sized French companies, valued at €30 to €200 million, seeking to accelerate their growth and their international footprint. To know more about Activa Capital, please visit

Contacts

Charles Diehl Partner +33 1 43 12 50 12

Charlotte Metaireau Marketing & Communications Manager +33 1 43 12 50 12

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