Advent International and Circet’s management team enter into exclusive negotiations to acquire Circet Groupe from CM-CIC Investissement

Paris, 25 January 2018 – Advent International (“Advent”), one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors, today announced that it has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire Circet Groupe (“Circet”), France’s leading telecommunications network service provider, from CM-CIC Investissement, its major shareholder, Omnes Capital, the company’s founders and management team. Advent is partnering with Circet’s management led by Philippe Lamazou in this transaction.

Circet is the leading outsourcing partner for network deployment and maintenance services for fixed and mobile telecommunications operators, local authorities, equipment vendors and key accounts in France. It provides its clients with full turnkey solutions, across the three main network infrastructures – copper, mobile and fibre. Uniquely, Circet is able to provide its clients with a broad spectrum of services, from network and architecture design services, through to roll-out, activation and maintenance solutions.

Since its inception, Circet has been continuously growing both organically on the back of favourable trends in the telecom services market and through multiple strategic acquisitions. The company today employs over 3,000 individuals across 70 sites in France. In 2017, Circet is expected to generate pro forma sales in excess of €700 million.

The terms of this transaction, which requires workers’ council information and consultation and is subject to the approval of relevant market authorities, are not disclosed.