Champeau: Second LBO with AXA Private Equity Paris, 14th September 2006.

AXA Private Equity has, for a second time, entered into Champeau group’s capital. This new financial transaction with the leading French manufacturer of wood roof truss systems mainly used in the construction of individual housing follows the sale of its previous stake in 2004.

The initial LBO was conducted by AXA Private Equity in 2002. In 2004, the management team then organized a secondary LBO with the help of Naxicap and Grand Sud Ouest Capital. Today, Champeau’s management is going ahead with a further transaction in order to increase its stake in the capital of the company. The decision to choose AXA Private Equity reflects the reciprocal trust that both the management and AXA Private Equity hold for each other.

AXA Private Equity has invested, through its specialized Small Caps Funds, around €10 million. The goal of this transaction is to enable the group to continue its development throughout France, mainly the northern and western regions, by opening new production sites and by the acquisition of regional players, the French market for wood roof truss systems still being very fragmented. The Champeau group will also look at external potential transactions in neighbouring European countries.

"We are very happy to reinvest, through AXA Private Equity fund, working side by side with this quality-proven team and to accompany it in its new phase of development, continuing the strategy that we already followed through the acquisition of Gau at the end of 2003», stated Arnaud Dufer of AXA Private Equity.

As agreed in this transaction, AXA Private Equity will hold the majority stake in the capital alongside Jean-Pierre Champeau who will become the Chairman of the Supervisory Board and the management team headed by Thierry Simon.

Based in Limoges, Champeau Group employs 460 staff and is located in 12 production sites in France. The group covers the following French regions: Limousin-Auvergne, Rhône-Alpes, Midi-Pyrénées, Ile-de-France, Languedoc-Roussillon, Pays de la Loire, Aquitaine, Sud-Ouest. With more than 25,000 wooden roofing systems manufactured, the group expects to reach consolidated revenues of €72 million at the end of September 2006, which represents a double digit annual growth rate over the last ten year.

List of participants and advisers in the Champeau transaction

Buyers:

AXA Private Equity: Arnaud Dufer, Alexis Lavaillote, Eric Neuplanche

Advisers to AXA Private Equity:

Legal: Lovells (Monique Sentilles-Dupont, Sébastien Crépy)
Accounting, financial: Advolis (Damien Bourg, Patrick Iweins)
Insurance: Marsh (Romain Meflet)
Bank financing: KBC (Stéphane Monnier, Nancy Lefebvre)
Legal advice for KBC: Ayache, Salama & Associés (Alain Lévy)

Sellers:

Naxicap: Laurent Lesdos
Grand Sud Ouest Capital: François de Vaugelas

Advisers to sellers:

Financial: DF Finance (Daniel Foin)
Legal: Cabinet Veil-Jourde (Georges Jourde)

Press contact:

(33) 1 44 45 92 20

AXA Private Equity
20, place Vendôme
75001 PARIS