Acquisition of Staci

Astorg Partners has concluded an agreement on the acquisition of Groupe STACI from the group's founding-director, Jean-Pierre Masse, the investment company Initiative & Finance, executive directors and private shareholders. Upon completion of the deal, Astorg will hold 51% of the capital and 59% of the voting rights in the new holding company. Jean-Pierre Masse, Initiative & Finance and the management team have shown their confidence by reinvesting significantly in the new operation.

Groupe STACI, which was delisted in 2004 by its founding-director, supported by Initiative & Finance, specialises in logistic services for non commercial products. It offers to its customers, mainly large companies with extensive networks, an externalized logistic service for documents and support materials used in recurring and promotional marketing. STACI is the current French leader in this field and is also established in Belgium and Poland. It has just purchased Logimail, a leading logistics company in document delivery for travel agent networks. Groupe STACI forecasts 2006 consolidated sales of around €84 million.

Commenting on the transaction, Xavier Moreno, President of Astorg Partners, says "We like to accompany an exceptional entrepreneur like Jean-Pierre Masse who, over the last 15 years, with his team, has succeeded in creating the leader of a niche market with strong development and has plans for the future on a European scale. We are proud that he has chosen us to be his partner in this new phase of STACI's development".

For Groupe STACI, Jean-Pierre Masse declared "We are delighted to welcome Astorg as the majority shareholder of our group. With their industrial experience, their partnership culture, their professional and reactive team, they are bringing complementary advantages which will enable us to pursue our ambitious strategy of internal and external growth".

Concerning this new operation, Thierry Boghossian, Partner of Initiative & Finance rounded off by saying "Our support made it possible for STACI to delist successfully and position itself in a medium to long term development perspective. After two years of investments in internal and external growth, we are pleased with this new shareholder configuration which, in addition to the realization of a good financial performance, provides STACI with the means to pursue its development".