De Pardieu has advised Future French Champions, the joint venture between Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Bpifrance, on the capital restructuring of Alstef Group, a leading player in the design, integration and supply of automated and robotic solutions for the airport, logistics and parcel sorting markets.
For this transaction, Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire a majority stake in Alstef Group alongside the group’s management team and 260 employee shareholders. As part of this transaction, the founders (Pierre Marol and Jean-Luc Thomé) and Future French Champions, the joint venture between Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Bpifrance, will reinvest alongside Ardian.
Founded in 1961 and headquartered near Orléans in France, Alstef Group is an established player in the design, integration and supply of equipment and proprietary software for intelligent handling solutions. For over a decade, the Group has experienced double-digit growth and rapid international expansion, supported by the acquisition of Glidepath, an airport-baggage and parcel-handling company in 2020, and parcel sorting company SNS in 2023. The Group has a global presence, with 16 subsidiaries around the world and systems installed in 93 countries. It is one of the world leaders in airport baggage sorting and has a blue-chip customer base in the intralogistics and parcel sorting markets.
The completion of the transaction is subject to the usual legal conditions precedent and the approval of the relevant regulatory authorities.