Paris - Ardian, one of the world’s leading invest­ment houses, acqui­res a majo­rity stake in Staci, a leading Euro­pean specialty logi­stics company from Copeba. The manage­ment team led by Thomas Mortier parti­ci­pa­tes along­side Ardian as well as Société Générale’s invest­ment teams.

Foun­ded in 1989, Staci is a Euro­pean market-leading inde­pen­dent provi­der of inno­va­tive B2B and B2B2C logi­stics solu­ti­ons for busi­nesses. Staci has unique exper­tise in mana­ging complex and scalable logi­stics opera­ti­ons, such as deal­ing with a variety of suppli­ers and deli­very points, small quan­ti­ties, special formats, and products with and without barcodes. In parti­cu­lar, the company has deve­lo­ped strong exper­tise in the logi­stics of adver­ti­sing and promo­tio­nal media.

Staci employs around 1,900 people and gene­ra­ted sales of more than 250 million euros in 2018. The company opera­tes 25 warehou­ses in Bene­lux, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.

Staci has a leading posi­tion in its market niche, based on a model of pooling its warehou­ses and resour­ces and its port­fo­lio of services, which are all built around a proprie­tary IT system. Staci is present throug­hout Europe with a wide spec­trum of clients ranging from multi­na­tio­nal groups to local compa­nies across seve­ral sectors, inclu­ding food, health and cosme­tics, tele­coms and finan­cial services. Staci has about 1,900 employees and gene­ra­ted more than 250 million euros in turno­ver in 2018.

Thomas Mortier, CEO of Staci, said: “Staci employees are deligh­ted to open this new page in the company’s history with Ardian. The manage­ment team has reinves­ted very signi­fi­cantly in the busi­ness and we share the same values and vision with the Ardian team with regards to Staci’s deve­lo­p­ment stra­tegy in France and abroad. I would like to thank our employees, part­ners and share­hol­ders for their commit­ment, support and profes­sio­na­lism, which every day contri­bute to the quality of the services we provide to our customers.”

Lise Faucon­nier, Mana­ging Direc­tor, and Alex­andre Vannelle, Direc­tor at Ardian Buyout, said: “We are proud to invest in Staci to acce­le­rate the next phase of its deve­lo­p­ment and to support Thomas Mortier and his team. The high quality of the rela­ti­onships estab­lished, and their strong growth reflect the company’s excel­lence. Along­side the manage­ment team, we will conti­nue to deve­lop Staci and conso­li­date its presence in key geogra­phi­cal areas through stra­te­gic acqui­si­ti­ons, in a market that is still very fragmented.”

Jean-Marie Laurent Josi, CEO, and Charles-Henri Chaliac, Member of the Execu­tive Commit­tee of Cobepa, said: “We are deligh­ted to have been able to support Thomas Mortier and his team in the execu­tion of a truly trans­for­ma­tive stra­te­gic plan for the Staci Group, which has been able to both streng­then its posi­tion in its local market, while fulfil­ling its inter­na­tio­nal ambi­ti­ons and simul­ta­neously streng­thening links with its main custo­mers. The Group’s unique know-how, coupled with its strong poten­tial for orga­nic and acqui­si­tive growth, enables it to move smoothly into its new deve­lo­p­ment phase with the support of Ardian.”

Staci is the fifth invest­ment of Ardian’s buyout team in 2019. With 49 employees in Paris, Frank­furt, Milan and London, the team invests in high-quality mid- and large-cap compa­nies across Western Europe, apply­ing trans­for­ma­tion stra­te­gies that enable them to become world leaders in their niche markets.