Exclusive Networks opens up on €100m investment boost

Chief executive Olivier Breittmayer claims Exclusive will hit €1bn mark earlier than expected

Exclusive Networks' chief executive Olivier Breittmayer has claimed the new investment package from Belgian firm Cobepa is going to help the distributor "grow faster than the plan".

In March it was reported that 10 firms were in the running to invest in the pan-European distributor. Today the firm announced it had reached an investment agreement with Cobepa that will give it the chance to "access a finance package of over €100m (£72m)".

Speaking to CRN, Breittmayer said: "I think for us, the investment is an accelerator. We already have a strong growing business and we didn't need the funds for that. But if we want to grow faster, to add more territories and business units, it's important to have additional funds, so with that funding we [can] make sure that we grow faster than the plan and that's really important for us."

Exclusive has previously stated its ambition to become a €1bn distributor by 2017, but Breittmayer said he expects the firm to hit this goal earlier than expected.

"In 2017 I can say that we will probably do that €1bn mark without acquisitions. Because we have some acquisitions planned, I expect we will probably do the billion before 2017."

Earlier this week Exclusive revealed its latest financial results which saw its revenues at €173m for Q1 2015. This was €10m ahead of what the firm had forecasted and the results were buoyed by its big data-focused distribution arm, Big Technology.

Of the 10 firms that made bids to back Exclusive, Breittmayer said Cobepa was the right size for the distributor.

"We chose Cobepa first because they are big enough to continue to back the development of Exclusive and they are focused on medium-sized companies like we are," he said.

Breittmayer also said it will still be the directors of Exclusive who dictate the direction of the company following the investment.

"Even if they [Cobepa] are the majority shareholders, we can still decide a lot of things and it's the management team of Exclusive that will make most of the decisions, and that's something that is very important for us. The company is going to continue to be managed by the management team, not the investors," he said.

Exclusive's previous investor Omnes Capital is being replaced by Cobepa, while current backer Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners is renewing its funding and a deal has also been reached for a new finance facility from existing partner Intermediate Capital Group (ICG).

Breittmayer said these investors now hold about a 60 per cent stake in Exclusive collectively. He also said there has been a move to increase the number of Exclusive's managers who hold shares in the company from 25 to 70, and these figures now hold roughly a 40 per cent stake in Exclusive.

Breittmayer said that with the new investment package, Exclusive is not going to look for any new funding for the next "three to five years".

He added that with the funding from Cobepa, Exclusive is well placed to continue with its M&A strategy and he said he does not expect this to deviate from what was already outlined earlier this year.