Clearwater has advised Société d'Instrumentation et de Traitement d'Essais sur Sites (SITES), a pioneering engineering company specialising in structural health monitoring, on its minority stake sale to Raise and Siparex. The French Nuclear Fund (FFN) managed by Siparex is also involved in the transaction. This operation is in line with SITES’ capital reorganisation and the exit of Bpifrance, which has been supporting the group's growth since 2015 through the FDEN (Fonds de Développement des Entreprises Nucléaires).
SITES' Managing Directors, Hervé Lançon and Marie-Hélène Inchauspé expanded the shareholding structure to the other members of the management team, on top of new financial partners, to support the group's long-term growth and structuring in France, as well as its international development.
Founded in 1984, SITES is an independent engineering company specialising in the monitoring and optimisation of key infrastructures’ lifecycle. As a major player in the nuclear sector, and more generally in the low-carbon energy field with the acquisition of Cornis in 2020, and a leader in wind turbine blade inspection, the group also developed its activities in transportation facilities, buildings, construction, and research centres. Thanks to its extensive track record and technological tools developed and renewed in-house, the group covers the entire value chain, from structured inspection to maintenance and supervision work, including diagnosis, calculation, tests, surveys, measurements, and monitoring. With over 400 employees, the company has achieved significant growth and has generated €40m in revenues in 2021. Thanks to its successes in France, the group has expanded its presence abroad in geographies outside Europe including, among others, China, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia.
In support of management, RAISE and the FFN will help SITES to boost its sectorial and geographical diversification and develop new skills, through the acceleration of its external growth strategy.
Clearwater also supported the management of SITES in structuring the senior financing of the secondary LBO transaction with Société Générale, BECM and Crédit Coopératif.
