Ciné Digital projects future growth with support from Crédit Mutuel Equity and Sodero Gestion

A leader in its market, Ciné Digital specialises in the installation and maintenance of projection, sound, dynamic display, and ticketing solutions for cinemas. The Nantes-based company undertook an internal transfer project, involving the official, complete exit of the company’s historic leaders, Jean-Noël and Nicole Fagot, and the acquisition of a significant ownership stake byCEO Etienn Roux

An investment team made up of Crédit Mutuel Equity and Sodero Gestion, who have been Ciné Digital shareholders for over 20 years, assisted the CEO with this transition. Ciné Digital generated turnover of over € 30 million in 2022 and it has 85 employees spread across five regional sites.

This management buyout transaction, or MBO, was managed by Crédit Mutuel Equity, the leader of the group of majority shareholders alongside Sodero Gestion, which has invested in the company via its entrepreneur fund Transmettre & Pérenniser II. Senior financing was provided by the longstanding pool of banks: Banque Populaire Grand Ouest, CIC Ouest, and Caisse d’Épargne Bretagne Pays de Loire.

Founded in the 1950s near the French city of Nantes, Ciné Digital has grown in the market for sales and installation of cinema equipment to become what it is today, the leading French company for digital projection. With its national network, the company equips over half of cinema screens in France, representing about 3,300 auditoriums, with projectors, speakers, amplifiers, screens, and 3D systems. The company also offers related maintenance and repair services. In 2010, Ciné Digital also began developing innovative software solutions for cinema operators, particularly helping them manage the scheduling of showings, film projection, dynamic displays within cinemas, and ticketing.

Ciné Digital has five regional sites (Nantes, Bordeaux, Paris, Marseille, and Lyon) thanks to organic growth and successful acquisitions, allowing the company to provide local coverage throughout France. The company has 85 employees, two thirds of whom are technicians. Additionally, Ciné Digital develops and publishes the Ciné Digital Manager, Ciné Digital Display, and Ciné Office software suites.

Etienne Roux, who holds a professional certificate in projector operation, as well as a degree from HEC business school, is passionate about film and projection technologies. He joined Ciné Digital in 2012 as the sales director and went on to become an executive director in 2018, and then CEO in 2021. He is also the president of UNITIA, a European economic interest grouping (EEIG) that unites the major theatre integrators of the biggest European countries, including Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal, and Poland.

“The great adventure continues! This new transaction officially completes the transfer initiated in 2018 while ensuring continuity in the shareholder base, human resources, and operations. I would like to give special thanks to our historic partners, Crédit Mutuel Equity and Sodero Gestion, for their trust and enthusiasm. Their support will provide us with the resources needed to take on new challenges in a market currently undergoing a transformation. Ciné Digital’s innovation will focus on bringing new software solutions to market, replacing lamp projectors with laser projectors that consume less energy, and deploying new services to support our customers,” says Etienne Roux.

“We are delighted to continue this longstanding adventure with Ciné Digital that began in 2002. The company has been able to adapt to an evolving market to become the leading player in France. Thanks to its resilient and high-performing business model, which was put to the test when the COVID-19 pandemic caused a massive drop in cinema attendance, the Nantes-based company has distinguished itself over the last 15 years with its ability to support the transition of cinema operations. This transfer transaction preserves the company’s independence while opening up the possibility for the CEO to take control in the next four to five years,” explain Romai Freismuth and Ian Petit of Crédit Mutuel Equity.

“The Transmettre & Pérenniser fund team is proud to take part in this transfer project, which fits with the DNA of our entrepreneur fund: enabling a passionate, ambitious business leader to take control of a high-performing regional SME that’s a leader in its market. Sodero Gestion is thus continuing its longstanding support for Ciné Digital, which has established itself as an essential partner for French cinema operators and which has distinguished itself through the quality of its service and its ability to innovate. This is a fascinating market and we are thrilled to be able to support Etienne Roux in this new phase of growth,” says Romain Engrand of Sodero Gestion.

About Crédit Mutuel Equity:

Crédit Mutuel Equity is home to all of the Private Equity activities of Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale: Capital Développement (Capital Development), Capital Transmission (Capital Transfer), and Capital Innovation.

Crédit Mutuel Equity provides capital support to business leaders at all stages of development of their companies—from start-up to transfer—by giving them the resources and time required to implement their transformation projects. Crédit Mutuel Equity brings together over 350 business leaders, who share their beliefs and pose questions within a true network of entrepreneurs that allows each member, regardless of the nature of their project, to benefit from the experience of others. By investing its own capital (€ 4 billion), Crédit Mutuel Equity finances companies’ projects with timelines that are adapted to their growth strategies, in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Canada.

For more information: www.creditmutuel-equity.eu

About Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale:

A leading French bank and insurance company, with over 75,000 employees and serving over 29 million customers, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale offers a range of services to individual customers, local professionals, and companies of all sizes, via its 4,500 points of sale. Among the most solid banking groups in Europe, its equity capital amounted to € 53.2 billion and its CET1 ratio stood at 18.8% on 31 December 2021.

Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale brings together the Crédit Mutuel banks of the following federations: Centre Est Europe (Strasbourg), Sud-Est (Lyon), Île-de-France (Paris), Savoie-Mont Blanc (Annecy), Midi-Atlantique (Toulouse), Loire-Atlantique et Centre Ouest (Nantes), Centre (Orléans), Normandie (Caen), Dauphiné-Vivarais (Valence), Méditerranéen (Marseille), Anjou (Angers), Massif Central (Clermont-Ferrand), Antilles-Guyane (Fort-de-France), and Nord Europe (Lille). Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale also includes the Caisse Fédérale de Crédit Mutuel, the Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel (BFCM) and all its subsidiaries, notably CIC, Euro-Information, Assurances du Crédit Mutuel (ACM), TARGOBANK, Cofidis, Banque Européenne du Crédit Mutuel (BECM), Banque de Luxembourg, Banque Transatlantique, and Homiris.

More information is available at www.creditmutuelalliancefederale.fr

About Sodero Gestion and Transmettre & Pérenniser:

Sodero Gestion is a major private equity player in France’s Grand Ouest region, with offices in Nantes, Rennes, Brest, and La Roche-sur-Yon. With equity stakes in a hundred or so regional companies, Sodero Gestion finances start-ups, SMEs, and mid-size companies for their growth and transfer projects. Sodero Gestion contributes to the regional economy by investing savings in local companies and assists business leaders as they aim for financial performance and positive impacts.

The Transmettre & Pérenniser fund, managed by Sodero Gestion, specifically supports SMEs in the Grand Ouest region with their projects to transfer ownership to their managers. Thanks to the fund’s entrepreneurial DNA, management teams receive backing from experienced managers who have invested in the fund and who provide their expertise and experience as “mentor leaders.”

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