A fruitful partnership

Transcription

1 May 2015 ROUTIN and CM-CIC Investissement A fruitful partnership

2 With 50 million units sold each year, Routin is France s secondlargest flavoured syrup producer and one of Europe s leading players in the beverage flavourings industry. Olivier Lecœur has headed the Savoie-based company since He explained to us how combining strong regional roots and innovation can lead to international success. Olivier Lecœur

3 ROUTIN and CM-CIC Investissement, enjoying the fruits of their labour. What have been the main phases of Routin s development? Olivier Lecœur: Philibert Routin created the company in Chambéry in 1883 with a flagship product: traditional Savoie vermouth, which is still well known and sold today. In the 1960s, with its range of regional alcoholic drinks, the company took full advantage of the rise of mass tourism in the Alps. The Clochet family then transformed what was a regional small business into a national operator in the 1970s. Its main idea was to use the company s expertise to make syrups under retailer own brands, and particularly for the Carrefour group, which was expanding rapidly at the time. In the 1990s, we created two brands of our own: Fruiss for the mass retail market, and 1883 de la Maison Routin for the trade market, in France and abroad. How is the syrups market performing today? O. L.: It is the fastest-growing segment of the non-alcoholic beverages market, with volume growth of 5-6% per year. The total syrups market is worth 300 million. Syrups are less controversial than carbonated soft drinks, and are regarded as an inexpensive drink, which is very helpful during a recession. The international market is also very strong, due to the rapidly growing use of beverage flavourings. These flavourings are of course used in cocktails and in flavoured beers and wines, which have become fashionable, but also in hot drinks. The world s best-selling syrup is now vanilla syrup, which is used to flavour coffee. What are Routin s advantages in this market? O. L.: Our expertise goes back decades. We are close to the Alps, and so we can use pure, unprocessed water, which is a good selling point. But our main strength is our ability to innovate, which is part of our corporate DNA. Just looking at the last two years, we have launched our first syrups featuring all-natural flavourings, our first water flavouring products, and our first products in PET flasks. Speaking of innovation, your sensory analysis laboratory is a novel tool. O. L.: It s unique. It was set up in 1987, and employs 20 experts. Like a perfumer would do with a fragrance, these experts can break down a flavour mandarin, for example and reconstitute it as a syrup. Our flavour library contains over 2,000 syrups. As a result, we offer over 95 different flavourings to bars and coffee shops all around the world. Our latest flavour is nougat, a world first.

4 What about the future? O. L.: We naturally want to remain a strategic partner for mass retailers, offering them game-changing innovations such as syrups in PET flasks. However, our main ambition is to develop our own brands and reach a balance between the two activities. We are particularly keen to develop our trade brand, 1883 de la Maison Routin, which is our main export growth driver. We want to double the proportion of sales coming from international markets to 40%. As well as developing innovative products, that requires major investments in production facilities and staff. For example, we have recently recruited sales teams in the USA and Asia. What is your relationship with CM-CIC Capital Finance? O. L.: It s very close. We bought Routin together, after many months of tough negotiations, when Jean Clochet, who had managed the company for a long time, wanted to sell. I became the group s new CEO and CM-CIC Investissement was our largest shareholder. Since then, we 160 employees have increased revenue to almost 60 million, and we have become more profitable. We are seeing strong growth momentum, so you could say that our collaboration is bearing fruit. 60 million of revenue Products sold in over 75 countries

5 ROUTIN as seen by Jean-Christophe Vuillot, CM-CIC Investissement. Jean-Christophe Vuillot Having been in charge of France s second-largest syrup producer since 1938, the Clochet family chose CM- CIC Investissement and its partners to handle the buyout of the Routin group. The company, based in the heart of the Alps, has built an excellent reputation in the syrups market, selling its products both under retailer own brands in France but also under its own Fruiss and 1883 brands. It has become a flavourings specialist, and is now focusing all of its efforts on innovation and industrial excellence, with the aim of generating growth in France and abroad. Jean Clochet, representing the second generation of Clochets in charge of Routin, had no family successor and selected CM-CIC Investissement as the company s key shareholder, to help it secure its future and roll out its ambitious new strategy. We put together a funding round based around new CEO Olivier Lecœur, a professional working in the agro-food industry whom we had known since When considering the acquisition and to support us in the transaction, two former top executives from the Orangina Schweppes group provided their expertise as Operating Advisors. We also invited a US family office, attracted by the group s export potential, to take part. With this new management team, which has been strengthened and has a stake in Routin s equity, and with the support of all Routin employees, CM-CIC Investissement organised the buyout, with a commitment to supporting a strategy involving rapid growth in France and abroad.

6 Conquête de l Everest en 1953 par Edmund Hillary et Tenzing Norgay. NOTHING IMPORTANT IS ACHIEVED WITHOUT TRUST This conviction inspires the men and women of CM-CIC Investissement on a day-to-day basis in their relations with the entrepreneurs they work with over the long term. We cover all areas of corporate finance - including venture capital, expansion capital, buyout financing and M&A advisory - in order to meet companies equity financing needs. In addition to professionalism, it is this resolutely peoplebased view of the business and this local relationship with business owners that characterise the success of our approach. CM-CIC Investissement - Lyon Espace Cordeliers - 2, rue Président Carnot Lyon Tél Paris - Lyon - Nantes - Lille - Strasbourg - Bordeaux - Montréal TheLINKS.fr - RCS Nantes B Mai Crédits photos : Copyright 2001 British Photographers Liaison Committee/Finers Stephens Innocent As agreed by BAPLA, AOP, NUJ, MPA and the BFP - Musée Air France - Getty Images - Routin. Head office 28 avenue de l Opéra PARIS