Sale of Groupe Campus to Centre France
Campus Agency, specializing in event communication targeting students, joins the regional press group Centre France, which is pursuing its diversification strategy and thus expanding its audience. This sale was advised by Largillière Finance.
Originally created 70 years ago as a magazine, Groupe Campus acts as the link between brands and students (18-25 years old) across the entire French national territory. The agency offers 360° communication devices, thanks to exclusive partnerships with over 800 campuses and 1,000 student associations. It designs tailor-made communication plans for each client, adapted to their needs and issues, through physical touchpoints (events, festivals, pop-up campuses & trade shows…) or digital solutions (visibility or display solutions).
Based in Bagnolet (Paris region), Campus employs 26 people and generated revenue of over €4 million in 2024, with sustained growth of +20%. Its prospects are promising, driven by the loyalty of major accounts (tech, banking, consumer goods, digital, national education players, etc.) and the expansion of its customer portfolio.
Strong synergies with the activities of the Centre France group
Founded in Clermont-Ferrand with the creation of the newspaper La Montagne in 1919, the Centre France press group publishes newspapers, including eight daily and nine weekly titles. Its 1,448 employees are spread across a dozen activities, including events, advertising, media solutions, consulting, and training, generating revenue of €158 million.
This acquisition of a stake paves the way for national expansion, in coherence with the group’s events activities (ESJ PRO, themed trade shows…). It marks a new milestone in the group’s diversification strategy and will enable the development of new offerings.
Campus retains its DNA and management team
The original founders of Campus remain at the helm to maintain and develop the teams’ expertise.
Campus recently orchestrated a tour across 45 campuses and collaborates with brands such as Deezer, Dailymotion, and Asus.
2025
Largillière Finance Experts
- Gabriel Hainault
- Paul Sardinha Marques
Counterpart
This partnership is a great opportunity for a local media outlet, present across one fifth of the national territory. It will enable us to deploy new levers for growth, revenue, and synergies. This is an important step toward rejuvenating our audiences, in line with our positive values and our mission to serve as many people as possible.
Soizic Bouju
Managing Director of the Centre France group
Campus’ strength lies in its complete presence where young people learn, make choices, and thrive. We were looking for a partner capable of providing operational and business synergies, and the Largillière Finance teams perfectly understood our expectations and were able to support us in our discussions with the Centre France group
Johanna Riahi
Associate Director of Group Campus
We are delighted to have advised Campus Group on this structuring transaction. For the co-directors, the partnership with Centre France is part of a strategy of continuity, with the desire to continue development among the student audience, a key segment in the acquirer’s diversification strategy.
Gabriel Hainault
Director at Largillière Finance
Contact presse
Margie
Aliénor Miens - +33 6 64 32 81 75 - alienor.miens@margie.fr
Largillière Finance, the independent M&A advisor for growth companies
Largillière Finance is one of the leading small and mid-cap M&A advisory firms serving growth companies. As an independent group, it advises entrepreneurs, family-owned businesses, investment funds and large corporates on mergers and acquisitions (disposals, acquisitions, carve-outs/spin-offs and capital raisings) as well as financing transactions.
With the recent acquisition of Cairn Partners, a specialist in complex situations and distressed M&A, the Group has broadened its expertise and further strengthened its advisory platform.
With more than 60 professionals organised across ten sector verticals and over 550 transactions completed, the Largillière Finance Group is present in Paris, in the regions (Bordeaux, Lyon, Nantes) and in Geneva.
As the exclusive French member of the global REACH Cross-Border M&A network, which brings together more than 400 investment bankers across 30 countries, the Group also supports its clients on international transactions.
