Third acquisition of 2019 for HLD Europe, the private equity firm established in 2010 by Jean-Philippe Hecketsweiler, Jean-Bernard Lafonta and Philippe Donnet (the initials of the surnames of the three founding partners make up the acronym of the company name). The Italian structure, inaugurated a year ago, communicated that the subsidiary M-Cube (in which HLD holds a 65% stake) concluded the acquisition of 100% of Storever, Belgian company of the listed Audio Valley group.
Through this operation M-Cube, which today registers a turnover of about three times higher than in 2017 and can boast an increasingly broad geographical coverage and an even more substantial customer portfolio, thus becoming the first European group in the creation of audiovisual solutions for in-store marketing, with a portfolio of 400 customers in 85 countries around the world. Storever, on the other hand, is a company active in in-store radio and digital signage services.
So this is it third acquisition of the year: the first two were in February, when M-Cube first acquired 66% of Stentle, the startup that recognizes customers and brings e-commerce directly to the store, and then 100% of the French competitor Carlipa.
“M-Cube – he commented Alessandro Papetti, Italian partner of HLD Europe – it was our first investment in Italy in 2017 and its development through targeted acquisitions – he declares – is in line with the investment strategy of our group which aims to create value in leading companies in their reference sectors through strong international growth both organically but also through external lines. We are satisfied with the balance sheet of the first year of activity in which, in addition to having opened the office in Milan and having set up a team of 5 people, we are evaluating various dossiers, always in line with the long-term approach for the implementation of business plans development at an international level, a couple of which could be finalized as early as the first quarter of 2020”.
