Crédit Mutuel Equity supports Horizon L’Agence de Loisir through its management transfer to assist with the company’s growth

Founded in 2006 by Mickaël Rivallin in Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez, on France’s Atlantic coast, Horizon L’Agence de Loisir is a regional leader in its market, offering high-end holiday accommodation to individual customers and generating turnover of € 12 million.

As part of a transition in Horizon’s management team, Mickaël Rivallin wanted to gradually step back from his operational duties and hand them over to Jimmy Favre, CEO and a shareholder in the company since 2019. The accompanying reorganisation of the company’s shareholder base was supported by Crédit Mutuel Equity, which invested € 4.2 million in an initial round of fundraising, allowing Horizon to enter a new stage in its growth, particularly by expanding its operations outside of France’s Vendée department and rapidly developing an export division targeting the European business market.

Initiated in 2019, the reorganisation marked the official passing of the torch to the current CEO, 35-year-old Jimmy Favre, who became the majority shareholder. Hired in 2009 as a salesman, Mr Favre gradually took over leadership of the company’s operations and now manages the team of 15 people, which he largely put together over the last two years. Mickaël Rivallin, who has withdrawn from his role in day-to-day operations, remains a shareholder and will serve as an advisor on the company’s strategy.

Horizon L’Agence de Loisir offers new and resale leisure lodges, chalets, and outdoor equipment, as well as additional solutions for buying or renting a pitching site. The company has a vast catalogue with several different brands, including O’HARA, IRM, Rideau, Trigano, Rapidhome, Samibois, and Cistébois. Horizon has made itself a leader by developing a network over the last 15 years in the outdoor tourism accommodation market, with the goal of maintaining a business model founded mainly on the sales of new and resale “pied-à-terre” units to individual customers in the region.

The Vendée-based company has two show-home sites ideally located on a road lined with campsites in Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez and in Saint-Jean-de-Monts. The company also sells new garden sheds and patios, and occasionally purchases plots in campsites, which it then equips and resells.

“With total confidence, I am handing the reins of the company to Jimmy Favre, who has successfully guided us through this structuring phase for Horizon L’Agence de Loisir. Now backed by an active financial partner that can assist him in his new role as the majority shareholder, he can confidently enter this new phase of growth, which aims, on the one hand, to expand the company’s sales territory in France while, on the other hand, creating an export division targeting the European market, with the intention of giving a second life to our products. The goal is to double the company’s turnover within five years,” explains Mickaël Rivallin.

“This regional SME, with its small team, has managed to build a robust business model based on a market it understands perfectly. The company has achieved an incredible growth trajectory. Thanks to its recognised expertise, Horizon L’Agence de Loisir has built a solid reputation for itself in France’s Vendée, the region with the highest concentration of campsites in the country. We are delighted to assist Jimmy Favre, who has expressed his desire to continue growing the company in the outdoor tourism accommodation market, with growth driven by strong momentum in France and in the rest of Europe. Mr Favre asked for support in the company’s upcoming phases of growth and restructuring,” explain Fanny Hibon, Director of Equity Investments, and Charles Delmeire, Business Manager, at Crédit Mutuel Equity.

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

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