ACOLAD acquired by QUALIUM

This transaction involves a secondary LBO whereby Qualium Investissement has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire a majority stake in Acolad from Naxicap Partners, concluding a formal sale process managed by Lazard. The financial engineering of the transaction features a balanced governance and equity structure: while Qualium secures a narrow capital majority, Acolad’s CEO, Benjamin du Fraysseix, alongside his family, executes a substantial equity rollover, effectively retaining ultimate voting control within the newly formed holding structure. On the debt financing side, the transaction is backed by a fully underwritten unitranche credit facility co-provided by the company's incumbent lender Idinvest and Barings. Reflecting the target’s enhanced operational scale following its strategic cross-border bolt-on of Dutch language specialist Livewords—which positions the group to reach a projected EBITDA of 32 million euros—Qualium is considering syndicating a portion of its equity commitment to co-investment minority partners. The post-closing industrial roadmap is geared toward accelerating an aggressive pan-European consolidation strategy within a fragmented 20 billion euro addressable market, specifically driving organic growth across the high-margin corporate interpretation segment.

In the past, the company underwent an LBO led by Naxicap Partners in 2016, and continued an active consolidation strategy by notably acquiring Livewords (2019).