Press release - 8 December 2022
Largillière Finance advised Naxicap Partners on the sale of their majority stake in Pisoni Publicité to JCDecaux, the world leader in outdoor advertising.
JCDecaux SE (Euronext Paris: DEC) announces the acquisition by its subsidiary JCDecaux France of Pisoni, a French player in street furniture and large-format billboards in the South of France.
Founded in 1987 and owned by the investment fund Naxicap Partners and its management, Pisoni has 37 employees and currently operates 4,306 faces in the Mediterranean Arc, including 2,066 street furniture faces under public concessions (48% of the total) and 2,240 large-format billboards on private property (52% of the total). Pisoni also offers digital printing services through its company Tendance Pixxl.
Pisoni is a benchmark company in the South of France, an area with an above-average economic dynamism and high tourist traffic. Its assets are located in six départements - Alpes-Maritimes, Hérault, Var, Drôme, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence - and it has four local branches in Mouans-Sartoux, Six-Fours, Saint-Jean-de-Védas and Valence.
As a local player present in more than 1,000 local authorities, JCDecaux is strengthening its foothold in the Mediterranean Arc thanks to the merger with Pisoni, which has high-quality assets and shares the same demanding and responsible values as the more than 200 JCDecaux employees in the region, serving urban areas, businesses and citizens.
This transaction will also enable JCDecaux to consolidate its national coverage of street furniture in a fragmented and competitive French media market. The complementary nature of JCDecaux's and Pisoni's assets will be an asset in offering local, regional and national companies increasingly high-performance solutions in both analog and digital signage, the development of which will be pursued according to a qualitative and energy-conscious approach, for temporary and long-term campaigns (representing 50% of Pisoni's sales in 2021).
Pisoni is fully aware of the challenges facing society, and is committed to sustainable development and respect for quality of life. The merger with JCDecaux will enable it to pursue its commitments and benefit from best ESG practices.
The acquisition of Pisoni is in line with JCDecaux's external growth strategy, aimed at seizing the best market opportunities when they are relevant.
Guylène Jourdan, Partner at Largillière Finance, commented: “We are delighted to have supported Naxicap Partners and the management, shareholders in Pisoni Publicité, France's third-largest outdoor advertising company with top-tier sites, in its merger with the world leader in the sector, JCDecaux. This transaction will enable Pisoni Publicité to pursue its development and JCDecaux to strengthen its foothold in the Mediterranean Arc, in a context of shared values”.
Christophe Ulivieri, CEO of the Pisoni Group, commented: “This transaction is a major turning point for the Pisoni teams, and confirms that our strategy is in line with growing market demand. Our agreement with JCDecaux was immediate, and we have found a true partner in this family business, in whom we have every confidence to continue writing the history of our company. We are happy and proud to be able to carry out our development projects alongside this company, which is an expert in its sector, and we would like to thank Largillière Finance for providing us with the best possible support at this stage."
Jean-Charles Decaux, CEO of the Executive Board and Co-CEO of JCDecaux, said: “As a French family-owned company, the inventor of street furniture and the largest employer in the sector in France, JCDecaux is a reliable and committed partner in the transformation of our regions.The merger with Pisoni, a leading outdoor advertising company in the Mediterranean Arc, will enable us to respond ever more effectively to the service expectations of cities and citizens, as well as to the needs of local and national companies seeking effective, relevant and sustainable local advertising. We welcome the Pisoni teams to the JCDecaux Group, with whom we share common values of high standards, quality and responsibility”.
JCDecaux key figures
(a) Adjusted net sales
Stakeholders in the operation:
| Seller M&A Advisor: | |
| Largillière Finance | Guylène Jourdan, Paul Bougnoux, Maxime Fournely |
| Seller Lawyer: | |
| Lamartine Conseil | Stéphane Rodriguez, Ugo Audouard |
| Financial VDD: | |
| Advance Capital | Pascal Ripaux, Clément Fructus |
| Target company: | Pisoni Publicité |
| Sellers: | |
|
Angèle Faugier, Hugues Martin-Montchalin |
|
Vincent Piot, Christophe Ulivieri |
| Buyer: | JCDecaux |
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.
