Nobel assists Artefact’s management in the affiliation of the Group with Ardian Expansion
Artefact is recognized as one of the leaders in data-driven digital transformation consulting, with offices in the main geographies, enabling it to support its major clients worldwide. With 800 employees, Artefact is growing at a rate of over 15% and is highly profitable.
Nobel, Artefact’s 1st shareholder, has been supporting the Group’s transformation and growth for 4 years. In 2017, the Nobel fund initiated the merger between NetBooster and Artefact. Nobel is now the reference shareholder of NetBooster, a listed company specialized in digital marketing with worldwide locations. Artefact is a young French company, specialized in data and in strong growth. The two companies have strong business and client complementarities. They are merged under the name Artefact and the management is entrusted to the founders of Artefact, Vincent Luciani and Guillaume de Roquemaurel. François de La Villardière is appointed President. The merger will accelerate international development and give Artefact a unique positioning at the intersection of marketing, consulting, and data. Artefact’s 2020 results, despite a difficult economic environment, and those of the first half of 2021, mark the success of this transformation.
Nobel supports Artefact’s management in their desire to back the company with a major private equity fund. The Nobel Fund, the managers and a few other major shareholders have formed a control block which has just entered exclusive negotiations with a view to selling to Ardian Expansion. Following the acquisition of this control block, Ardian Expansion will launch a simplified public offer for the remaining shares of Artefact.
Controlled by Ardian Expansion, Artefact will be able to write a new page by further accelerating its growth through a very active acquisition and talent recruitment policy, which would be more difficult to achieve by remaining listed on the market.
Weinberg Capital Partners’ proposal
Founded in 2005, WCP is an independent investment company historically active in buyout capital. In 2008, it broadened its scope to include real estate assets, and since 2015 has been investing in the capital of French listed SMEs/SMIs as a minority shareholder with an active, friendly and long-term approach. In 2020, WCP added to its capacity to invest in SMEs with a minority strategy focused on sustainable development issues, which offers extra-financial support to better prepare companies for environmental and societal challenges.
With €1.3 billion in assets under management, WCP is a significant player in the mid-market equity segment in France.
WCP is a signatory of the PRI, a member of the International Climate Initiative and an active responsible investor.
Laurence Roy-Rojo | Associée – Investor Relations
laurence.royrojo@weinbergcapital.com | + 33 1 53 53 55 16