Ardian, a French private equity group, has agreed to buy a majority stake in Audiotonix in a deal understood to put an enterprise value on the UK-based maker of music-mixing consoles of almost €1bn.
The deal will mean the company, whose equipment has been used on tours by bands including Coldplay and U2, passes into its third set of private equity hands. The move illustrates how buyout groups are increasingly buying and selling companies among themselves.
Audiotonix, based in Chessington, south-west London, makes live sound equipment for theatre shows, concerts, television and other events. It has about 550 employees.
Ardian will buy a majority stake from Astorg. The Paris-based private equity group paid £350m for the business in 2017 and will retain a minority holding.
Astorg had been preparing to sell the business in an auction in the first quarter of 2020, and about six major private equity groups had expressed an interest, according to a person familiar with the deal. Ardian was able to pre-empt that auction process with its bid.
Olivier Personnaz, managing director at the buyout group, said a buoyant market in live events and the entertainment sector deploying Audiotonix’s equipment presented an opportunity for further growth. Ardian declined to comment on the financial details of the deal.
Total sales in the year to March 2018, the most recent period for which figures are publicly available, were $155m, up from $126m the previous year, according to accounts filed with Companies House. Details of how much of the deal was financed by debt were not available.
Audiotonix was formed in 2014 as a combination of three businesses, DiGiCo, Allen & Heath and Calrec, under the ownership of private equity group Electra, since renamed Epiris.
DiGiCo had previously been in private equity hands under the buyout groups Mobeus and Livingbridge.
At Audiotonix, “many new projects have their coat and hat on and are ready to go out,” said François de Mitry, managing partner at Astorg. “We’re thrilled to go on supporting the journey.”
About a third of the company’s revenue is from Europe, a third from North America and a third from business in the rest of the world.
Ardian’s previous UK deals include buying a majority stake in Study Group, which provides courses for international students who want to study at English-speaking universities, in February. Ardian manages or advises on more than $90bn of assets in Europe, the Americas and Asia.
