One Equity Partners Agrees to Acquire Precision Metals, Polymers & Composites Maker Clayens Group

Jul 26, 2022 | News

One Equity Partners, a middle market private equity firm, announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Clayens, a value-added outsourced contract manufacturer of high-performance polymers, composites and precision metals from a group of investors led by French private equity firm Siparex, which sells its majority stake.

As part of the transaction Siparex, its co-investors, as well as management team will reinvest in the business alongside OEP to continue supporting the Company as minority partners. Financial terms of the private transaction are not being disclosed.

Based in Genas, France, Clayens provides processing services for polymers, composites and precision metal parts. The Company’s capabilities include thermoplastics, thermoset injection, metalloplastics and precision metal machining and engineering. Clayens currently employs more than 3,000 full-time employees and operates 25 manufacturing sites across Europe, North Africa and North America, selling to blue-chip global customers present in these regions.

Led by its CEO Eric Pisani and with the active backing of Siparex since 2019 Clayens has implemented a sustained growth strategy, including 4 significant acquisitions, which helped Clayens record strong growth in turnover from €273 million in 2019 to over €350 million in the last twelve months.

“Clayens’ specialized expertise in producing highly engineered products that meet the most rigorous specifications is highly valued by multinationals operating in various end markets,” said Konstantin Ryzhkov, Managing Director, One Equity Partners. “This capability has produced a loyal customer base that gives the Company a significant advantage in a competitive market. OEP has a strong track record of building leading global companies from local champions through cross-Atlantic business combinations, and we believe that in partnership with Siparex and other current shareholders OEP can apply this experience to help Clayens transition from a leading French business to a major global player.”

In addition to its inherent strengths, Clayens benefits from current market trends including re-shoring of manufacturing operations with demand shifting back from China to Europe and the U.S., growth in infrastructure spending in several countries worldwide, and post-Covid recovery across sectors such as automotive and aerospace. These trends coupled with a reliable client base contribute to Clayens’ long-standing resilience as a business.

“We are eager to embark in this ambitious partnership with One Equity Partners, and we welcome them as a new majority shareholder committed to accelerating our growth,” said Eric Pisani, CEO of Clayens. “OEP distinguished itself through the firm’s partnership approach and its expertise in identifying and executing global transformational combinations. With OEP’s resources and expertise we expect Clayens to develop into an even more valuable partner to its customers, with greater global footprint and capabilities.”

“Clayens has seen significant business development over the past four years and is primed to become a global leader in precision components manufacturing,” said Florent Lauzet, Managing Partner at Siparex. “This a new chapter for Clayens, but we and other existing shareholders remain committed to this investment. We are pleased to support alongside OEP a strong management team with demonstrated ability to grow organically and via acquisitions.”

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Alternative investments include private equity, private debt, commercial property, infrastructure, and alternative fund strategies.

Interest in alternative assets gained extra momentum during the Covid-19 pandemic, when many private investors increased their liquidity so that they could seize good investment opportunities when they arose.

“Experienced private investors are not just dabbling in alternative investments – many are carving out a significant space for them as a vital component of their portfolios,” said Connection Capital managing partner Claire Madden.

Madden pointed to inflation, rising interest rates, recessionary fears and geopolitical risks as having undermined trust in the 60/40 equities/bond split.

“One of the attractions of alternative assets as an investment class is that it is so wide-ranging: you can diversify into alternatives and then you can diversify within them as well,” she added.

“Private investors are particularly on the lookout for investments where returns are capital in nature, and where there is scope to be opportunistic, for example, where market volatility has had an impact on pricing.”

The survey found that 33 per cent plan to increase their exposure to alternative assets over the next 12 months, whereas just 14 per cent expect to increase their exposure to quoted equities.

Fewer than a fifth (18 per cent) say they feel optimistic about the outlook for quoted equity performance over the next 12 months.

Private equity is the most sought-after alternative investment class, with single private equity transactions and growth and buyout funds seeing most interest from private investors, followed by special situations and distressed debt funds, later stage venture capital investments and PE secondaries strategies.

Private equity’s position as a long-standing top performer is a key motivator. According to McKinsey, private equity has been the highest-performing private market asset class over the past decade with a median net internal rate of return of 19.5 per cent.

It also continues to outperform public markets, with median funds in every private equity vintage since 2009 returning at least 1.06 times their public market equivalent to date.

“Since many private investors have created significant wealth by running successful businesses themselves, and due to its consistently impressive performance, private equity is often a frontrunner when it comes to considering which alternative assets to invest in,” said Madden.

“However, we are also seeing a lot of open-mindedness about options such as private debt, commercial property, infrastructure funds and other alternative fund strategies as the opportunity set and value proposition become clearer and investors get more comfortable with the idea of branching out.”

Source: P2P

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