AXA Private Equity sells IRM to Bénéteau Paris March 27, 2007

AXA Private Equity has officially completed the sale of IRM, the French N° 1 builder of mobile-homes, to Bénéteau group, following a favourable opinion issued by the French anti-trust authorities (DGCCRF) at the beginning of March 2007. This deal boosts the ‘mobile-home’ division of Bénéteau, which owns O’Hara: the new group will post revenues of over €150m and produce some 10,000 units per year.

Eric Neuplanche, Director for AXA Private Equity commented: “We were delighted with the spontaneous purchase offer from Bénéteau, one of the leading groups on the market, for two reasons. The offer not only meets our financial criteria but it also crowns the success of IRM’s strategy to improve its offering, with our support, since January 2004”.

This transaction takes place in a market, which is becoming increasingly professional under the growing weight of camping equipment chains. It will propel the new group IRM-O’Hara to no. 2 position in Europe with 16% market share. Patrick Mahé, chairman and CEO of IRM group explained: “Following two successful LMBOs, this business combination is a new step for IRM. We will strengthen the Group’s capacity for innovation and continue to improve our range of products and services. The two brands will continue to operate independently, particularly in European markets where tourism is booming but which lack sufficient infrastructure”.

IRM posted revenues for financial year 2005/06 of €108m generating an EBITDA margin of over 11%. The group employs around 550 staff.

List of parties and advisors on the IRM transaction

AXA Private Equity:

• Mathieu Antonini, Dominique Gaillard, Eric Neuplanche

Vendors’ legal advisors:

• Sokolow Carreras & Associés: Jean-François Carreras,
• François Fabiani, Nathalie Jalabert
• Cornet Vincent Ségurel: Didier Lacroix

Bénéteau’s legal advisors:

• Lamartine Conseil: Olivier Renault, Sophie Marchand

Press Contacts:

AXA Private Equity
Jérémie Delecourt
00 33 (0)1 44 45 60 73
jeremie.delecourt@axa-im.com

About AXA Private Equity:

AXA Private Equity, an AXA Investment Managers company, with offices in Paris, Frankfurt, Singapore, London, Milan and New York, is a world leader in private equity investments. It offers its partners a wide selection of funds, all with proven returns, across a full range of asset classes (Buyout, Expansion, Venture, Co-Investment, Mezzanine, primary, early secondary and secondary Fund of Funds).

AXA Private Equity manages and advises private equity funds with assets in excess of €10 billion for some of the world’s leading investors. With a constant focus on transparency, performance and sustainable profitability, AXA Private Equity is distinguished by the expertise of its staff and its international reach

About IRM:

Based in Vendée, France, since 1992, IRM is no. 1 in the French mobile-home market. Backed by some 550 employees, IRM builds over 7,000 mobile-homes per year in 4 factories, including 2 in Vendée (Luçon), 1 in Northern France (Lesquin) and 1 in Gard (Beaucaire).