The FINANCIAL — Societe Generale and Wendel have entered into exclusive negotiations for the acquisition by ALD Automotive, a subsidiary of Societe Generale, of Parcours Group, which is majority-owned by Wendel.
Founded in 1989, Parcours Group is the 7th largest French long-term vehicle leasing company and also operates in Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Portugal. Parcours’ total fleet stands at 61,500 vehicles (including 55,000 in France) as of 31/12/2015. In 2015, Parcours Group generated consolidated turnover of around EUR 370m.
ALD Automotive’s offer would value Parcours’ shares at EUR 300m, including goodwill per vehicle in line with valuations observed in recent transactions in this sector.
The project to acquire Parcours Group is in line with the development strategy of ALD Automotive, one of the leaders in the long-term leasing industry in Europe and worldwide, with 1.207 million vehicles (including 360,000 in France) at the end of 2015. This transaction would allow ALD Automotive to strengthen its position with SMEs and very small companies in France and to accelerate its growth in the long-term leasing business, according to Societe Generale.
This transaction demonstrates Societe Generale’s commitment to supporting ALD Automotive, a leading and highly-successful business both in terms of growth and profitability. This acquisition would have a very limited negative impact on the Group’s CET1 ratio (around -5 bps) and would be accretive on the bank’s ROE from the first year.
Societe Generale and Wendel will continue to work on the project, which will be presented to staff representative bodies. The completion of this transaction will be subject to the agreement of the French Competition Authority.
Mike Masterson, CEO of ALD International, said: “This acquisition would be an important step in ALD Automotive’s strategy, where our ambition is to have the best range of mobility solutions in the long-term leasing business. The cornerstone of this ambition is to continuously adapt our offering to meet the evolving needs of our clients. This operation would allow us to enhance our setup while leveraging on Parcours Group’s profitable and innovative business model.”
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