KEENSIGHT CAPITAL: MAJORITY STAKE IN SMILE

Keensight Capital, one of the leading European Growth Buyout1 firms, has entered into an exclusive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Smile, the European leader in digital and open source. Subject to the completion of the information and consultation process of the employees representative bodies of the Smile group and the approval of the transaction by the French competition authority, Keensight Capital, which has built a strong partnership with Smile over the years having first invested in the company from 2013 to 2017, would replace Eurazeo PME as majority shareholder. Eurazeo PME would also be reinvesting in the company, alongside the management team and the employees. 

Supported by Keensight Capital, Smile would benefit from their extensive expertise in the IT sector and international approach, and from Eurazeo’s added value in terms of acquisition process. Smile should capitalize on the additional financial means by accelerating the roll-out of its Open Arrow 2.0 strategic plan through two main pillars:

• International expansion: already present in a third of European markets, Smile intends to pursue its international growth and to generate 25% of its revenues abroad by 2022.
• Development of the consulting offer: launched in 2019, the integrated consulting division represents a real breakthrough in the company’s strategy.

Marc Palazon, Chairman of Smile’s Executive Board, said: “In sync with Keensight Capital and Eurazeo PME’s investment philosophy, we think one step ahead. Our ambition is to establish ourselves as the next European digital champion, through both organic growth and bolt-on acquisitions. We are confident that the guidance of two of the best European investment teams coupled with the roll-out of the second part of our Open Arrow strategy would enable us to make open source the main vector for digitalization in Europe.”

For more information, read our press release