Business News

CPI strengthens position following acquisition

Tuesday 06. August 2013 - The CPI Group today announces its successful acquisition by the Impala Group in combination with Bpifrance.

The deal is accompanied by a restructuring of CPI’s financial debt, reducing the company’s indebtedness to €15 million and therefore diminishing the financial cost of the debt borne by the company. This reduction will also strengthen CPI’s ability to make investments to better adapt to changes in its market and maintain its leadership position in Europe.
The new shareholders – including Impala, Bpifrance, and the company’s management – are investing €21 million in equity and quasi-equity to support CPI’s development. At the end of the transaction, Impala will become the majority shareholder of CPI with a 52% stake, alongside Bpifrance (24%) and a group of private investors including the company’s management (24%).
Impala’s Chairman, Jacques Veyrat, said: “We intend to show, along with the company’s management, that it is possible to pursue an ambitious, value-creating strategy in a declining and evolving sector.”
Bertrand Finet, Executive Director of Bpifrance Investissement, added: “Bpifrance’s participation in this transaction is intended to enable CPI to carry out the investments it needs to modify its business model, maintain the integrity of the company and increase its financial strength.”
Pierre-François Catté, Chairman of the CPI Group, welcomed the change which will make it possible for the group to continue its strategy of adapting to a market undergoing rapid changes in terms of volume and technology: “Our shareholder lenders did much to assist the company in the years following the 2009 restructuring. By now focusing on their role as creditors in an arrangement adapted to the Group’s market environment, they continue to support the company in a responsible manner.”
Francois Golicheff, CEO of CPI UK, was delighted at the positive outcome and confident about the future: “We believe this announcement demonstrates our long-term commitment to supporting our customers. It’s good news for publishers and for our commercial print customers; they can be assured that we are totally focussed on our strategy of investing and innovating to adapt in a fast-evolving market. I am determined that CPI UK will continue on a path of security, profitability and growth.”
The transaction will be completed in the next few weeks and is subject to the customary conditions precedent for this type of transaction.