Clearwater has advised Phenix Groupe (Phenix), a French leading outdoor media company, on the acquisition financing of Smartmedia, a digital and printing display company.
Managed by Sébastien Romelot and having been backed by Crédit Mutuel Equity since 2017, the Neuilly-sur-Seine-headquartered operator owns a national network of outdoor print and digital screens.
After the acquisition of Topito to develop its content-based activity, Phenix launched an exclusive technological partnership with Smartmedia. The acquisition of the two entities Smartmedia and Naja will strengthen Phenix’s position in the technology and digital media field.
With a turnover of €40m, this strategic acquisition will allow the new group to penetrate the shopping centres and outdoor displays, to reinforce its midtown positioning and to become the number one digital out of home operator across France in terms of coverage, with more than 3,500 digital screens and 1,600 outdoor display units.
The transaction is financed by an equity issue from the current minority shareholder Crédit Mutuel Equity and bank financing from, BNP Paribas and BPI, joined by the Caisse d'Epargne Ile-de-France which becomes a new partner of the group.
