UK-based Bridgepoint has partnered with Paris-listed Eurazeo to acquire European real estate management company Foncia from France's banking giant BPCE in a deal valuing the business at EUR 1 bn.

Bridgepoint and Eurazeo said they have reached an agreement to buy Foncia 'with the ambition of making it Europe's leading residential real estate services company'. The transaction value comprises EUR 480 mln jointly from Eurazeo and Bridgepoint, EUR 395 mln debt and EUR 200 mln that BPCE will reinvest in return for a minority stake in the business.

Foncia has a network of more than 600 branches run by nearly 7,000 employees. It operates in France, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, and offers a complete range of services for the residential real estate market: lease management, joint property management, sales advice, financing research, insurance and technical diagnoses. It posted revenue of EUR 580 mln in 2010.

In order to make Foncia a European leader in the industry, Bridgepoint and Eurazeo said they would encourage the implementation of an ambitious industrial plan with the objective of giving the group 'fresh commercial dynamism'. In addition, in a market that remains very fragmented, Foncia will be able to continue to play an important role as a consolidator, through a selective acquisitions policy, they added.

'Foncia is a very fine company with a leading position in the residential real estate services sector in France, which presents tremendous development opportunities. Indeed our ambition is to make Foncia the best in class in the residential real estate services sector,' said Patrick Sayer, chairman of Eurazeo's executive board.

Yves Gévin, Foncia's chairman, added: 'The whole executive committee is pleased with this operation that it fully supports. Eurazeo and Bridgepoint completely share our ambition.'

With a diversified portfolio of EUR 4 bn, Eurazeo is one of the leading listed investment companies in Europe, with major investments in Accor, ANF Immobilier, APCOA, Edenred, Elis, Europcar, Fraikin and Rexel.

Bridgepoint is a European private equity firm focussing on the acquisition of companies in the business services, consumer, financial services, healthcare, media, and industrial sectors. It has offices throughout Europe in Frankfurt, Istanbul, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Stockholm.