French caterer Elior to acquire Derichebourg's Multiservices division (updated)

Elior SA

20/12/2022 07:38

(Adds details)
       Dec 20 (Reuters) - French caterer Elior Group  ELIOR.PA 
announced on Tuesday it will acquire its biggest shareholder
Derichebourg's  DBG.PA  Multiservices division (DMS), a tie-up
that will lead to consolidated 2021-2022 revenue of 5.23 billion
euros ($5.54 billion) and approximately 134,000 employees.
    Under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the
groups, Elior would acquire DMS in exchange for new Elior shares
issued to Derichebourg at 5.65 euros per share, representing a
premium of 119% or 128%, to the last trading day and the
one-month average share price prior to rumours.
    The operation will increase Derichebourg's stake in Elior
from 24.36% to 48.4%.
    The acquisition has significant potential value creation
with at least 30 million euros in run-rate EBITDA synergies and
a double-digit positive impact on EPS as soon as FY 2024, Elior
said in a statement.
    The group also announced Derichebourg's Chief Executive
Officer Daniel Derichebourg will be appointed as Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of Elior upon closing of the
transaction.
    Elior's CEO Bernard Gault said in a call with journalists
that the acquisition ends the strategic review of the group,
adding that no further operations are planned.
    The proposed acquisition of DMS' assets would enhance
Elior's financial profile with improved resilience and immediate
deleveraging, going from 8.3x to 6.2x, on a pro forma basis as
of the end of September 2022.
    Derichebourg's Multiservices division runs a range of
businesses from managing buildings to human resources activities
such as training and recruitment.
    The transaction is subject to Elior Group shareholders'
approval at an extraordinary general meeting during April-May of
next year.
    ($1 = 0.9441 euros)
 (Reporting by Federica Mileo; Editing by Tom Hogue and
Christopher Cushing)
 ((federica.mileo@thomsonreuters.com; +48587785332;))