Squire Patton Boggs and Vinge have joined forces to advise ITAB Shop Concept AB on its offer to LBO France to acquire HMY Group – a leading European supplier of shop fittings, checkouts and store design to the retail industry in mainly Europe, South America and the Middle East. ITAB has offered to acquire 100 per cent of the shares in HMY Group for a cash consideration of €320 million.
The Squire Patton Boggs team, co-led by partners Tony Reed in Paris and Fergus Gallagher in London, assisted by Dan Hassett and Matthew Vautrey and more than 50 team members across seven offices, advised ITAB on the M&A aspects of the transaction, with the Vinge team, co-led by Eric Sjöman, Jesper Ottergren, Henrik Borna and Henrik Ossborn, advising on the equity and debt financing.
Tony Reed said, “We are pleased to have supported ITAB on an important strategic expansion in France and internationally. The Squire Patton Boggs multidisciplinary teams across Europe and the UK worked closely with leading Swedish firm Vinge to deliver this transaction for the client – an acquisition that secures growth in their key markets and strengthens their core offerings in the retail space.”
ITAB has operations in some 24 countries and 15 production facilities in Europe, South America, and China. Its offering includes solution design, customised shop fittings, checkouts, consumer flow solutions, professional lighting systems and digitally interactive solutions for the physical store. ITAB is currently the market leader of checkouts to retailers in Europe, and one of Europe’s largest suppliers of shop fitting concepts and lighting systems. Its main customer segments include Grocery, Home Improvements, Consumer Electronics, Fashion, Café and Pharmacy, Health & Beauty.
HMY Group, founded in 1960 and headquartered in Monéteau, France, is a leading European player in retail solutions and services, providing the physical infrastructure inside a store including equipment and furniture, shelving and storage, checkout solutions, ceiling / wall coverings, lighting and visual communication. HMY serves a broad range of local and global customers in more than 160 countries, across Food, DIY and Brands and Retail. The company is a leader in Spain and France, with South Europe and West Europe accounting for 75 per cent of revenue for the financial year 2023; HMY also displays strong growth prospects in geographies such as the Middle East and South America.
The intended acquisition will provide increase in scale and relevance to ITAB’s customer base, strengthening ITAB’s position and presence in the Western and Southern European retail markets as well as providing geographically complementary advantages given HMY Group’s strength in especially Spain, France, Turkey and Central and South America.