H.I.G.-WHITEHORSE

H.I.G. WhiteHorse, a credit affiliate of global investment firm H.I.G. Capital ("H.I.G."), announced today that it has arranged a financing package for Groupe Astek (“Astek” or the “Group”), which includes a significant growth capital component.

Founded in 1988 and still controlled by its founder Jean-Luc Bernard, Astek is the last independent and fully private global French engineering & IT consulting specialist. It is headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France with over 500 employees operating in 17 countries. Led by Julien Gavaldon since 2013, the Group has grown significantly through a mix of organic and external growth, with six targeted acquisitions completed over the past two years.

H.I.G. WhiteHorse has arranged a €170 million financing package, which will be used to refinance the Group’s existing indebtedness, finance the buy-out of several minority shareholders, and provide additional capital to finance growth, supporting the Group’s expansion, especially through its active buy-and-build strategy. H.I.G. WhiteHorse, through some of its affiliates, acted as the sole arranger.

Jean-Luc Bernard, Founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Astek, said : “With this financing, Astek will continue to build upon its strong performance to reach its billion-dollar turnover target.”

Julien Gavaldon, Chief Executive Officer of Astek, said : “I would like to thank H.I.G. for their confidence in helping us reach this new milestone in the development of Astek. Based on the skills and commitment of our teams, we plan to keep up the momentum, driven by our ability to innovate and support our customers in their digitalisation efforts.”

Pascal Meysson, Head of H.I.G. WhiteHorse Europe, said : “Astek has grown significantly in recent years, including in 2020, despite the Covid-19 crisis. Today, Astek is well-positioned in a market with strong growth prospects, driven by an increasing need for digitalisation among businesses and a fragmented market that continues to consolidate. We are excited to contribute to the future success of the group with our tailored financing.”

About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. is a leading global alternative assets investment firm with $45 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/value-added approach:

1. H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve- outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.
2. H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.
3. H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.
4. H.I.G. Infrastructure focuses on making value-add and core plus investments in the infrastructure sector.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm's current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com .

* Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates.

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