Regulatory News:
Sodexo (PARIS:SW) (OTCBB:SDXAY) announced today that it has signed with Abénex Capital an agreement to acquire 100 % of Score Groupe, one of the leading independent providers of foodservices in France. This transaction is subject to approval by the French competition authorities. Sodexo expects to close the transaction during the first quarter of fiscal year 2009.
Founded in 1972 by Jean–Marie Paul, Score Groupe was taken over in a leveraged buyout transaction led managed by Abénex Capital in 2004. The company generated revenues of approximately €220 million in 2007 and has 3, 900 employees.
With this acquisition Sodexo reinforces its position in the French foodservices market, which continues to have a strong potential for growth. Score Groupe complements Sodexo´s offer, both in terms of targeted offerings by client segment as well as national geographic scope.
About Sodexo
Sodexo, founded in 1966 by Pierre Bellon, is a world leader in Food and Facilities Management services, with more than 342,380 employees on 29,000 sites in 80 countries. For Fiscal 2007, which closed August 31, 2007, Sodexo had revenues of 13.4 billion euro. Listed on Euronext Paris, the Group´s current market capitalization is 6.8 billion euro.
About Abénex Capital
Abénex Capital is an independent private equity firm. Previously named ABN AMRO Capital France, the company became independent from the ABN AMRO Group in March 2008. Abénex Capital focuses on buyout, development capital and public to private transactions on the mid–market segment (enterprise value from 30 to 500 M€). Since 2001, Abénex Capital has completed 25 investments in companies like Nutrition & Santé, NextiraOne, AES Laboratoires and Reponse, and successfully executed more than 40 build ups with them.
