Context

For the first time since being taken over in 2008, Colibri – Promesse de Fleurs has opened its capital to an institutional investor. Nord Capital Partenaires has acquired a minority stake by buying out the historical individual investors (friends and family) who backed President 18 years ago. Griot retains majority control of the group. The strategic rationale for the deal is to clean up the cap table and provide a springboard for an ambitious international expansion plan across Northern and Eastern Europe (including the Netherlands, Portugal, and Finland). The transaction includes a refinancing of existing bank debt but incorporates no new leverage (zero-leverage LBO model), ensuring that all future cash flows can be reinvested into logistics, digital marketing, and the opening of international warehouses.

Target

Founded in 1954, Promesse de Fleurs (Group Colibri) is a leading French producer and e-commerce specialist for ornamental plants. The company’s business model transitions the traditional plant nursery into a high-performance digital platform, offering a catalog of 22,000 plant species delivered directly to amateur gardeners. Its value proposition centers on "from greenhouse to doorstep," combining in-house cultivation (nurseries and greenhouses) with sophisticated logistics. Strategically, the group thrives in a niche where physical garden centers are declining, maintaining a 25% annual growth rate driven by a loyal customer base and a "pure-player" digital strategy. Following recent acquisitions like Jardin du Pic Vert and Meilland Richardier, Colibri has established itself as a dominant European player in online horticulture.