Bouygues to acquire Equans Services Group

7 novembre 2021

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Bouygues overview

Bouygues is a publicly held, French based company that specializes in telecommunications, real estate and media via the television group TF1. The company was founded in 1952, by Francis Bouygues. As of today, the current CEO is Pascal Minault.

The group’s objective is based on three targets :

The first one is to become a global leader in the industry of public infrastructure, referred to as BTP (batiments et travaux public).
The second is to maintain its position within the French TV media.
The third objective is to participate in the development of numerical usage in the telecom industry.

One of the unique strategies used by the company to achieve their long-term vision is their shareholder structure, with the following two major shareholders:

The SCDM group.

This group is managed by Martin and Olivier Bouygues, who own 23.8% of the capital, and 29.6% of shareholder voting rights.

Employees of Bouygues.

The employees own 21.1% of capital and 28.5% of voting rights.

Bouygues managed to experience a rebound from 2020, with 37 billion euros of revenue earned in 2021. The same rise can be observed in the revenue gained from the construction segment, with greater positive inflows for the year 2021.

As the majority of the Bouygues market operates in France, there is 62% of revenue earned in France and 38% from overseas activity.

Equans overview

Equans (formerly known as Engie Solutions) is a privately held company, founded in 2020, from the collaboration of Engie Axima, Engie Cofely, Engie Ineo and Engie Reseaux. The current CEO is Anne-Lauret de Chammard.

Equans specializes in providing solutions that address sustainable energy transitions. Such examples, include public lighting, robotics, electrical and fire protection. Equans constantly ensures that the result of its services to the end client are always sustainable.

The company’s current strategy is focused on reducing energy consumption and providing a zero-carbon energy transition.

In 2019, Equans generated 10 billion euros of revenue is. It also acquired allied Maintenance, for which the price has not been disclosed.

As of 2019, Engie solutions hold 4.6 billion of euros of CA in 2019, along with 15 0000 engaged and qualified collaborators, with more than 300 locations in France.

Deal Purpose

The purpose of the deal is to accelerate the development of Equans and Bouygues within the multi technical services and enable the smooth transition of renewable energy on a numerical and industrial level.

Deal Summary

Deal Outcome & Synergies

Expected sales of 16 billion euros, with 96000 employees post deal.
Equans is to become the largest business segment (based on revenue and headcount).
Expected creation of 10,000 additional employment positions over a 5 year period.
Potential synergies are estimated at €120 to 200 million per year.

Deal’s Structure

The acquisition will have the following structure:

The multiple of EV for 2026 of current operating profit is to be 11.4x according to Equans and Bouygues.
Martin Bouygues (Chairman of Bouygues) announces the acquisition as the “biggest deal Bouygues ever made”.
Acquisition to be financed with 100% of Equans shares and a loan from partner banks, which is then to be refinanced by bond issuances.
Current Enterprise Value of Equans is of €7 billion.

Expected Synergy Date: Q2 2022

Expected Accretive/Dilutive Type: Accretive (for year 1)