The Métal Blanc group, formed in 1947, is one of the European independent leaders in the non-ferrous waste treatment, recycling and re-use sector, specializing in the recycling and production of lead and tin.
Axio Capital has structured a BIMBO (Buy In Management Buy Out) deal in which it becomes the group’s main shareholder, relying on the arrival of a pair of experienced managers coming from the sector, Julien Baillon and Alain Languillat, alongside the former Chief Executive Christophe Crespin and the main long-standing shareholder, the grandson of the founder, Renaud Bourson.
Advised by Capitalmind Investec, the vendors who have reinvested significantly in the new deal chose the deal proposed by Axio Capital, which preserves the independence of the Métal Blanc group and perpetuates the story written with great success by Renaud Bourson and his family and Christophe Crespin. The arrival of these two new managers, along with Alexandre Revy and Noel Recher, respectively Chief Legal Officer and Environmental Officer, will enable Métal Blanc to accelerate its development. A senior bank debt, granted by the group’s long-standing banks Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne, completes the financing package.
The Métal Blanc group covers the entire secondary value chain for lead, from the collection of used batteries and other lead-containing waste, to refining, producing high-quality ingots meeting customers’ technical, mechanical and chemical specifications, not forgetting the grinding, melting, reduction and grading of 100% of the recovered waste, thereby ensuring its recycling and re-use.
Positioned in a remelted lead market that is growing and henceforth essential for users, Métal Blanc currently generates revenues of €50m and has substantial production capacity reserves that augur well for the years ahead.
In this deal, Axio Capital is involved through Axio Environnement, the latest of its investment vehicles, which thus comes into being with this first equity investment. This SLP (Special Limited Partnership), an evergreen company, intends to invest by acquiring majority or minority stakes in environmentally progressive companies. Accordingly, the Métal Blanc group, a long-standing industrial player in the waste reclamation, recycling and re-use sector, addresses this industry’s supply chain, whose investment targets include the drivers of energy savings, producers of renewable energies, re-use/reconditioning companies, operators of compensatory mechanisms (energy efficiency certificates, carbon offsetting schemes, etc.), as well as companies protecting natural resources.