| 18 Aug 2008 |
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Arcapita announces the acquisition of CEPL, a leading European warehouse logistics operator
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Manama, 18 August 2008: Arcapita BankArcapita Bank
B.S.C.(c), a leading international investment firm headquartered in Bahrain, today announced that it and its affiliates have signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Compagnie Européenne de Prestations Logistiques ("CEPL"), a leading European warehouse logistics service provider, from French private equity firm Sagard, and current management. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed but the deal ranks as the largest LBO in France this year. CEPL, headquartered in Béville le Comte, France, operates across 23 sites in France and Germany, and has approximately 2,200 employees.
Founded in 1998, CEPL provides clients with a single managed central location from which it prepares detailed orders for individual retail outlets on a national, pan-European or global basis. The current management team, led by Thierry Ortmans, CEO and founder, and Akim Lamrani, COO, will continue in their current roles and have increased their equity investment in the business.
Atif A. Abdulmalik, ArcapitaArcapita's Chief Executive Officer, said "This is one of the few transactions of this size in Europe to have secured LBO financing in these tough market conditions, which attests to the quality of the business, as well as the strong reputation that ArcapitaArcapita has built within Europe."
ArcapitaArcapita
managed the transaction out of its London office. Mounzer Nasr, head of ArcapitaArcapita's European Corporate Investments added "Through their dedication to exceptional levels of service and operational excellence, Thierry Ortmans and his highly motivated management team have built up a very high quality portfolio of customers within a short time frame. ArcapitaArcapita currently owns more than 5 million square meters of industrial warehouse facilities globally, and the acquisition of CEPL has the potential for significant synergies with our existing portfolio of logistics investments. We look forward to working with the current management team and employees, and investing in CEPL's next phase of growth." ArcapitaArcapita's portfolio of industrial warehouses is one of Europe's largest, and it has recently added Pinnacle, a fast growing industrial warehouse developer and operator in Central and Eastern Europe, to its existing investments in the sector.Thierry Ortmans, CEO and founder of CEPL said: "We are extremely pleased to have secured investment from an international partner of the caliber of ArcapitaArcapita. This is an important milestone in the development of CEPL and we believe that with their experience in the sector, ArcapitaArcapita will be a valuable partner as we continue the international growth of CEPL."
Financing for the transaction was provided by a consortium of banks including RBS, SocGen, CalyonCalyon
and ING.-Ends-
About Arcapita
ArcapitaArcapita is a global investment bank headquartered in Bahrain with offices in Atlanta, London and Singapore, and operates across four lines of business: Corporate Investment, Real Estate Investment, Asset-Based Investment and Venture Capital. Since its foundation in 1997, ArcapitaArcapita has completed 73 transactions with a total value of almost $27 billion and has a balance sheet footing of over $5 billion. ArcapitaArcapita recently reported a net income of $362 million for its fiscal year 2008. ArcapitaArcapita's portfolio of investments covers numerous industries, in particular business services - which includes logistics -, retail, consumer products, energy, specialized manufacturing and healthcare.
Full details of ArcapitaArcapita can be found at www.arcapita.com
CEPL, headquartered in Béville le Comte (France), is specialised in automated preparation of multi-reference orders (detailed picking). CEPL has prestigious clients in sectors such as perfume, cosmetics, sportswear, shoes, apparel, and high-tech goods, who have all outsourced their logistics to CEPL.
CEPL has created an unmatched reputation within its market based around specialised know-how, a high quality service for the client and a workforce incentivised through profit sharing schemes.
CEPL is well positioned to benefit from the increasing trend for companies to outsource their logistics and offers clients the opportunity to have a single European logistics site for the preparation of detailed orders for each individual point of sale from a single central location. CEPL's clients have all succeeded in improving their service levels while reducing their costs.
The ability of CEPL to work within extremely short timeframes and with service levels above 99.8% allows manufacturers and retailers to reduce their levels of inventory while satisfying the demands of their end-customers.
Enquiries
Financial Dynamics
Jon Earl
© Press Release 2008
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