CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre advises Ortec on the competition and tax aspects of the acquisition of Sonovision

On 13 February 2014, Ortec Group signed the purchase agreement for Sonovision Group. This acquisition accelerates the company’s expansion in the aeronautic sector.

With its headquarters in Aix-en-Provence, Ortec Group is headed by André Einaudi. In 2013 it generated turnover of €845 million and had 7,000 employees in over 110 branches in France and 25 sites in 15 African countries. The Group is a specialized services provider to companies in the industrial, energy and environmental sectors. With a broad range of engineering and works business lines, Ortec acts as a partner to industrial companies on large-scale projects, in France and internationally.

With its headquarters in Paris, Sonovision is the European leader in logistics and document engineering services for the aeronautic and space industries. The Group generates turnover of €120 million, employs 1,600 people and has 17 sites in France and 7 subsidiaries abroad. Founded in 1948, this pioneer of technical document production for military aeronautics was acquired as a medium-term holding in 2006 by the private equity company LBO France, which supported its expansion for seven years.

This new grouping provides a stronger basis for solid and profitable growth. With this acquisition the independent Ortec Group will top the €1 billion sales level in 2014 with more than 8,600 employees spread over 160 sites in France and abroad.

The law firm CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre advised Ortec on competition law in order to gain approval for the deal from the competition authority, and on tax law. The team was made up of Denis Redon (Partner) and Virginie Coursière-Pluntz on competition aspects and François Charpail (Partner) and Sophie Mahy on tax aspects.

Ortec Group was also advised by Moatti (Michel Moatti) and Landwell & Associés (Olivier de Courchelle) on corporate matters.

The owner of Sonovision, LBO France, was advised by Stehlin & Associés with a team composed of Armelle Kwiatkowski-Maitre (Partner) and Jean-Marie Aussedat on corporate issues, by Svetlana Tokoucheva (Partner) on financing aspects and Isabelle Savin (Partner) on tax-related matters.

For more information, please contact:

• Nicolas Merigeau, NewCap
  nmerigeau@newcap.fr
  +33 1 44 71 94 98
  
• CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre
  Florence Jouffroy, Marketing and Communication Director
  Laetitia Mostowski, External Communication Manager
  florence.jouffroy@cms-bfl.com, laetitia.mostowski@cms-bfl.com
  +33 1 47 38 40 32 / 40 74