Largillière Finance
Press release - 27 January 2025
COFARCO welcomes Siparex Entrepreneurs and Bpifrance to its capital, alongside Frédéric Blanchi, Founder-Director, and key managers who strengthen their presence on this occasion, including Mircea Bala who becomes Managing Director.
COFARCO, founded in 2009 by Frédéric Blanchi, is an insurance broker specializing in credit, political risk and surety insurance, with offices in Paris, Geneva and London, where it has been an accredited member of the Lloyd's market since 2019.
With direct access to more than sixty partner insurers, COFARCO serves key accounts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, mainly multinational companies and financial institutions operating in sectors where the company has differentiating technical expertise, including commodities trading, infrastructure financing and the gas and electricity markets.
With the support of Siparex Entrepreneurs and Bpifrance, COFARCO aims to deploy an ambitious strategic development plan, based on operational excellence and innovation, with a view to expanding its customer portfolio, opening new international offices and exploring external growth opportunities. The financial operation also enables key employees to acquire a stake in the company, including Mircea Bala, who has been with the company for 14 years and has been appointed Managing Director.
Frédéric Blanchi, President of COFARCO, and Mircea Bala, Managing Director, commented: “This transaction represents a significant milestone for COFARCO. It reflects not only the robustness of our foundations and the recognition of our expertise in challenging markets, but also our ambition to pursue sustained growth by offering a differentiating service in sectors where credit insurance and bonding have a decisive impact on our customers' financing or balance sheet management strategies. With the support of Siparex Entrepreneurs and Bpifrance, we now have the means to intensify our efforts in terms of innovation, operational excellence and strategic expansion, while continuing to serve our customers with the same level of commitment”.
For Nicolas Ibanez, Partner at Largillière Finance: “Insurance brokerage is a sector we know particularly well, having advised on over twenty transactions in recent years. We are proud to have supported Frédéric Blanchi, CEO and founder of Cofarco, and his team in this major transaction. The entry into the capital of renowned institutional partners such as Siparex and Bpifrance reinforces Cofarco's growth ambitions, particularly with its key accounts, while consolidating the commitment of the management team around the new Managing Director Mircea Bala”.
Edouard Ribaute, Director, and Claire Ramadier, Deputy Director at Siparex Entrepreneurs, commented: “We are delighted to support COFARCO in this key stage of its development. Its unique expertise, capacity for innovation and independence have already made it a benchmark player in its strategic markets. We fully share COFARCO's ambition to consolidate this position through both organic and external growth, while preserving its entrepreneurial DNA and proximity to its customers, and will provide the management team with the full support of the Siparex platform."
For Baptiste Proveau and Augustin Chappelon, Investment Director and Senior Investment Manager at Bpifrance: “We are thrilled to support COFARCO in this key stage of its development. The markets in which the Group operates combine growth and recurrence, and during our due diligence we were able to measure the extent to which the ecosystem recognizes the expertise and quality of COFARCO's teams. We will be able to rely on this solid foundation to deploy the development plan driven by the management”.
Stakeholders in the operation:
Investors: | |
Siparex Entrepreneurs: | Edouard Ribaute, Claire Ramadier |
Bpifrance: | Baptiste Proveau, Augustin Chappelon, Julie Poincheval, Tiphaine Gonnet |
Company Advisors: | |
M&A Advisor: Largilliere Finance | Nicolas Ibanez, Julien Rochas |
Legal Advisor: | Antoine Denis-Bertin |
Tax Advisor: Arsène Taxand | Mirouna Verban, Aurélie Maio |
Financial Investors Advisors: | |
Financial Advisor: Oderis | Norian Lebrot, Joris Griffond, Norman Fremont, Madu Sribaskaran |
Legal Advisor: Fidal | Jacques Darbois, Antoine de Bonnafos |
Senior debt: | |
Lender: BNP Paribas, BRED | |
Lenders' legal Advisor: Cards Avocat | Amr Touimer |
Borrower legal Advisor: EY | Christelle Salmon-Lataste, Joy Abou Ghaida |
With offices in Paris, Lyon, Nantes, Brussels and Geneva, Largillière Finance is an independent investment bank dedicated to assisting managers and shareholders of small and medium-sized companies with their capital transactions: company sales and acquisitions, financing (capital and/or debt), financial engineering (valuation, etc.) and financial strategy.
Largillière Finance