Carlyle makes Sagemcom bid

Private equity firm The Carlyle Group has confirmed that it is in talks to buy French set-top box vendor Sagemcom.


The company is currently ownmed by the Gores Group. Under the terms of the deal, Carlyle would own 70% of Sagemcom, with the rest owned jointly by the company’s management and employees. Financial details have not been revealed.


Benoît Colas, managing director, The Carlyle Group, said: “Sagemcom has an excellent track record in winning new customers and growing revenues in a competitive market. This demonstrates its commitment to customer relationships, technological innovation and superior time-to-market capabilities. We believe the team, led by Patrick Sévian, will be able to capture the tremendous growth opportunities ahead of us, notably in the broadband and energy markets. Carlyle’s deep telecom industry expertise and financial strength will be great resources for the future development of Sagemcom.”


Sévian, president of Sagemcom said: “We are very excited at the prospect of partnering with Carlyle as we believe this will enable us to consolidate and strengthen the ambitions of Sagemcom, both through organic growth and acquisitions. In addition, we are proud that The Carlyle Group, a leading
global institution in private equity, shares our employee ownership culture, which we consider as one of the engines of our dynamism, and which would be increased from 25 to 30% under the new structure.”


Sagemcom has more than 6,000 employees worldwide, and posted sales of €1.4 billion in 2010.

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