Paris, September 21, 2004 LAWFUEL – Best law, legal, attorney, law firm, takeover news & legal research – White & Case Paris has advised the trio of investors grouped together in a new French company in its takeover of one of the French publishing industry’s most familiar names. The new company, Société Nouvelle des Editions Vilo, was successful in its bid to acquire the French publishing house, Ramsay, which owns a number of other publishing brands (Editions de l’Amateur, Vilo Economie, La Pensée Universelle, and Editions Marval).
Ramsay, which is located in the rue Saint André des Arts in the Latin quarter of Paris, publishes titles across a broad range of categories, including business and economics, literary fiction, poetry, and historical and sociological texts.
Ramsay was forced into administration earlier this year due to cashflow difficulties. Subsequent to this the French judicial administrator who was appointed to manage Ramsay was unable to devise a turnaround plan for the business, which was then put up for sale. The administrator received more than 10 offers for Ramsay and its associated publishing houses. However, the offer made by Société Nouvelle des Editions Vilo was the only one to take in Ramsay and all its subsidiary publishing houses, saving 90 per cent of the business’ workforce, constituting 80 jobs. Société Nouvelle des Editions Vilo was chosen by the Paris commercial court as new owner of Ramsay on July 21, 2004. The purchase price for the business was €2.7 million, with an approximate total investment of €5 million (including the purchase price) being made in the business.
The White & Case team advising Société Nouvelle des Editions Vilo was lead by partner François Leloup. Commenting on the deal Leloup said: “With a high number of bids for Ramsay it was crucial to develop a structure that was both competitive enough to win the bid contest and sufficiently practical to ensure the business was successful following the acquisition. We worked hard with our client to develop an innovative structure to enable the consolidation of Ramsay’s financial base with the support of its personnel.”
