The Paris-based venture capital fund Ardian has sold its 15.6% stake in eDreams Odigeo in a private placement to institutional investors, eDreams informed the CNMV this Friday. "Ardian's decision to exit is due to legal obligations linked to the expiration of the relevant fund," eDreams added.
Ardian thus separates from the Spanish travel reservation company after 12 years - it was its second largest shareholder. EDreams has not disclosed the price at which the stake, whose market value was around 70 million euros on Thursday, was sold, according to Refinitiv data cited by Reuters.
Polus Capital Management (formerly Mediobanca) and Conversant Capital have acquired the shares of Ardian. In this way, the former raises its stake to 24.6%, ranking as the second shareholder immediately after Permira, with 25.1% of the shares. Conversant, for its part, now owns 8.4%. The free float has gone after the sale of Ardian shares from 52.7% to 68.3%.
As a result of this sale, the two members of the board of directors of the company appointed by Ardian, Lise Fauconnier and Daniel Setton, have today resigned as proprietary directors. Dana Dunne, CEO of eDreams Odigeo, has thanked Ardian for his support over the past twelve years. "They have been exceptional shareholders who have always added value and have helped us a lot in the transition to our successful subscription model," she stressed.
For her part, Lise Fauconnier, Ardian's Managing Director of Buyout Activity, stressed that eDreams is a remarkable business "with significant growth prospects and an excellent management team."
"We are proud to have supported the company in its transition to the subscription model and wish the management team and its shareholders much success in the next phase of growth. The fund in which this investment is held is nearing the end of its term of validity and will be closed once the disinvestment is completed", he explained.
EDreams lost 24 million euros during the first six months of its fiscal year, which ended on September 30, which represents a decrease of 36% compared to the red numbers of 37.5 million euros recorded in the same period of previous exercise. During these six months it managed to increase its reserves by 50%, to 8.6 million, a figure that is 48% higher than that of the period prior to the pandemic.
The eDreams share has advanced 2.59% at the opening of today's session, up to 3.76 euros. In the last year the company has lost 51.71% of its value, according to Investing.
