Private Equity Acquires 20% Stake in Nactis Flavours for €10 Million

24 Nov 2014 --- Nactis Flavours, the holding structure of Nactis France, an expert in aromatic raw materials, ingredients and flavours, has just raised €10 million from MML Capital. By further strengthening its financial structure in this way, with €5 million in equity and quasi-equity and €5 million in bonds, Nactis Flavours is giving itself the means to take a further step forward with its development strategy, accelerating its international deployment.

Under this deal, MML Capital has acquired a 20% capital stake in Nactis Flavours, which is controlled by Hervé Lecesne, its founder, Chairman and CEO, with his family (75%), alongside the management team (5%), made up of Gérard Trivier, CEO of Nactis France, Bernard Roux, VP Finance and Development, and Daniel Faguer, CEO of Nactis Flavours.

Previously Malteurop Group CEO, Daniel Faguer (54, AgroParisTech agronomist, HEC Executive MBA) joined the group at the start of November and his missions will include ramping up its international development, particularly in Eastern Europe, the Maghreb region and Asia.

“We were attracted by the quality of the team assembled around Nactis Flavours’ founder, as well as the group’s track record of strong growth in the buoyant food ingredients and flavours sector, in addition to its ambitious plans for international development”, confirms Henry Louis Mérieux, Managing Partner at MML Capital.

“Through its original approach as a capital and mezzanine debt investor, its human-scale structure, its high level of proximity and its responsiveness, MML Capital is an ideal financial partner that shares our culture and our values as an SME. Thanks to its international network, it will be supporting us with a view to achieving our goal to double in size within five years, generating more than 50% of our business internationally”, concludes Hervé Lecesne, Chairman and CEO of Nactis Flavours.

Since being founded in 1996, Nactis Flavours has stood out through its expertise in creating flavours, aromatic and functional ingredients, and aromatic raw materials for industrial firms (food, pharmaceutical, flavouring, perfumery sectors) and small-scale specialists from the food trade.

A company with a strong human dimension, Nactis offers its clients a range of innovative, high-quality solutions tailored to their needs. The expertise and know-how built up by its teams have enabled it to successfully deploy its solutions internationally, adapting them in line with local consumer practices and regulations.

With its five production sites in France (Bondoufle (91), Yssingeaux (43), Chartres (28), Furdenheim (67) and Illkirch (67)), its three commercial subsidiaries in Bulgaria, Poland and Tunisia, and its agents in 50 countries, the company generated €40 million in revenues in 2013, including 24% for export. Nactis has 175 staff in France and 25 internationally.

MML Capital is a private equity company specialised in small and mid-caps with a strong international development strategy. Founded in 1988 in London, with offices in Paris since 1998 and New York since 1999, and a team of 20 professionals in Europe and the United States, MML Capital has invested nearly €1.5 billion since being created in 85 companies across 11 countries. In France, its investments include Carré Blanc (household linen), Coventa (chemical additives), Vulcanic (heating equipment), France Géothermie (geothermal equipment) and Tournus Equipement (cooking equipment). In 2009, MML Capital set up Central Europe’s first mezzanine fund, with teams in five countries (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria), and it is currently investing its fifth fund (€250 million), benefiting from the long-term support of its institutional subscribers, primarily from Europe and America.