(MergerMarket)
Phenix Groupe eyes outdoor media and mobile technology targets in France -chairman Phenix Groupe, the French privately-owned outdoor advertising company, is eyeing outdoor media and mobile technology targets in France, Chairman and owner Sebastien Romelot said.
Romelot is looking himself for targets, and favours three types - outdoor advertising, outdoor marketing services and mobile technologies. He will look at targets of all sizes, and could make an acquisition in 2015. The group does not plan to mandate any financial advisor for these acquisitions, as Romelot has nine years of experience in mergers and acquisitions at Lazard. It will mandate its usual lawyers Linklaters or STC Partners.
The group was formed in 2014 from the merger of Insert SA and Kawet, a platform dedicated to mobile apps. It has made seven acquisitions since the creation of Insert SA in 2011, including Mediatables, an outdoor media company, and Promap, a historical French press bill boarding player, in 2013.
The EUR 24m revenues group will finance potential external growth with the funds received from its current shareholders in 2013 and 2014, and does not rule out another capital raise from its shareholders if an acquisition opportunity requires it, Romelot said.
Phenix Groupe is still majority owned by Romelot, who bought Insert SA in 2011. Audacia and Saint Mihiel, a private holding managed by Francois Dumez , invested respectively EUR 2m and 2.7m in 2013 and 2014 for a minority stake in the group.
The French outdoor media market is heavily concentrated and dominated by large groups such as JC Decaux SA (DEC:EN Paris), Exterion Media and Clear Channel France, according to Romelot. Phenix Groupe has posted 10% internal growth yearly and is one of the leaders in outdoor advertising addressing pedestrians, especially in Paris and other French city centres, and has a strongly growing market share in France, Romelot said.
The group plans to remain independent and reach EUR 26.4m revenues in 2015. Seventy percent of revenues are generated from its Insert outdoor media activity unit, and the remained from outdoor marketing services and mobile applications via its Kawet and StoreQuest subsidiaries. Kawet has its own engineering team dedicated to improving its technology. Its clients include SNCF, Procter & Gamble and Disney.