Aurenis

Aurenis is one of the principal players in the publication of partworks, books and magazines released as a set and sold through retail outlets or via subscription.

It operates across 34 countries worldwide and publishes in 20 languages. It has also established itself as a leading service provider for foreign publishers in the French market and provides in addition telemarketing and outsourced call-centre solutions for blue chip customers.

VALUE CREATION

In 2009, Aurenis demonstrated strong performance with a 19% increase in sales to €173m. The group employs around 1,300 employees.

As with the Eaglemoss acquisition by Aurenis in 2007, management acquired GE Fabbri, one of its direct competitors, in January 2011. This acquisition represented a good opportunity to consolidate the partworks industry, to position Aurenis as a global player amongst its remaining main competitors and to secure the development of Aurenis in Eastern Europe countries and BRIC.

THE EXIT

Equistone sold its stake in Aurenis in two stages: the call centre business was sold to a competitor, CCA International and the publishing business was sold back to Aurenis’ founders.