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Artefact Aims to Be World’s Leading Data Services Group Following Investment From Ardian and Cathay Capital

December 14, 2021
Europe

Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, together with global investment firm Cathay Capital, are pleased to announce the completion of its simplified tender offer led by Ardian for the remaining shares of Artefact, a leader in data services.

With required closing conditions met, the mandatory withdrawal of Artefact shares will be effective as of 21 December 2021 at €7.80 per share. Artefact’s legacy managers will also be joining with substantial reinvestments to ensure the continuity of governance with Group CEO Vincent Luciani.

Artefact was founded in 2014 by Vincent Luciani and Guillaume de Roquemaurel. After rapid international expansion, Artefact established itself as a leader in data-driven business transformation with the goal of creating value by bridging the gap between data and business.

Today, Artefact has over 800 employees and a global network with operations across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the Americas and Africa. The company has partnered with major brands such as L’Oréal, Danone, Sanofi and Orange. It has also supported major international accounts, including Samsung, Unilver and Reckitt, across a range of sectors from FMCG, Retail, Luxury, Telecoms, Healthcare, Tourism and Industry.

With only 10 to 15% of organizations successfully implementing data science-based solutions, Artefact has proven its ability to deploy AI projects at scale. Its offerings enable the implementation of fundamental services such as data governance and infrastructure and the development of specialized solutions including call centre automation, demand forecasting, recommendation engines and fraud detection. Artefact also has the most complete data-driven marketing portfolio in the industry.

In a market driven by the exponential increase of data, Ardian’s Expansion team, along with Cathay Capital’s strong presence in Asia, will back Artefact in a new phase of growth. Thanks to their global networks and access to significant resources, the new shareholders will support geographic expansion across Europe, Asia and the United States with the goal of Artefact becoming a global data services leader.

By investing in an ambitious talent program, the company aims to triple its workforce by 2025 with 500 recruitments already planned for 2022. Finally, the Group will be an active player in market consolidation by accelerating strategic acquisitions in the still highly fragmented data services sector.

Artefact’s strength lies in the excellence of its team, drawn to the company mission of building the next generation of “data leaders”. With strong values, a committed CSR policy, and continuous employee training and career development, Artefact is one of the data industry’s most sought-after employers.

 

Jérémie Falzone, Partner at Cathay Capital said:
“We’re delighted to partner with Artefact and its management team alongside Ardian in this new phase of development. Artefact has unmatched expertise in the field of data services, well recognized by its clients, and benefits from major growth potential in France and abroad. At Cathay Capital, our cross-border teams look forward to leveraging our tech know-how and ‘glocal’ ecosystem, particularly in China, to support the company’s ambitious organic and external growth strategies.”
Vincent Luciani, Co-Founder and CEO of ArteFact commented:
“This investment marks a major turning point in the history of Artefact. The delisting and the arrival of new shareholders like Ardian and Cathay Capital, both strategic and long-term investors, allows us to deploy an ambitious growth and recruitment plan anchored by the high quality and immense value-add of talent within our company.”
Marie Arnaud-Battandier, Managing Director at Expansion Team of ARDIAN added:
“Our objective is to support this excellent management team in its ambition to become a world leader in data services. Our global network, expertise and significant resources will be available to Artefact and will help accelerate the group’s growth by strengthening its appeal to new talent and pursuing an ambitious market consolidation strategy.”
About ARTEFACT
Artefact is a next-generation end-to-end data services company specialising in data transformation and data & digital marketing, transforming data into impact across the entire enterprise value chain. Artefact’s unique approach, by bridging the gap between data and businesses, enables our clients to achieve their business goals in a dedicated and efficient manner. Our 800 employees combine their multi-disciplinary skills to help companies innovate and grow. Our cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence technologies and agile methods ensure the success of our clients’ AI projects, from design to deployment, training and change management. With 16 offices in Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America and Africa, we partner with leading global brands such as Orange, Samsung, L’Oréal, and Sanofi.
www.artefact.com
About Cathay Capital Group

Cathay Capital Group is a global investment firm supporting companies at all stages throughout North America, Asia, Europe and Africa. By helping navigate the opportunities of globalization and sustainable transformation, Cathay is the partner of choice for companies aspiring to lead markets and make a positive impact. Its global platform connects people – from investors and entrepreneurs to management teams and leading corporations – across continents to share knowledge, the tools to scale, and achieve the extraordinary. Founded in 2007 with a strong entrepreneurial heritage, Cathay Capital now manages over $4.5B in assets, has completed over 190 buyouts, growth and venture capital investments with the global reach and local expertise from offices in Paris, New York, Shanghai, Munich, San Francisco, Beijing, Singapore, Shenzhen and Tel Aviv.

For more information, please visit www.cathaycapital.com
Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter @CathayCapital

About Ardian
Ardian is a world leading private investment house with assets of US$120bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base. Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.
Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 800 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of more
than 1,100 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

Parties to the transaction

Marie Arnaud- Battandier, Stephan Torra, Thomas Grétéré, Leslie Parmast.
Legal advisors: Latham & Watkins (Olivier Du Mottay, Olivia Rauch-Ravisé, Philippe Tesson, Mayssa Sader Michel Houdayer)
Financial advisors: Sycomore Corporate Finance (Tristan Dupont, Olivier Barret, Pierre-Arnaud De Lacharrière, Marion Pouchain), Clipperton Finance (Nicolas von Bulow, Martin Vielle), Natixis Partners (Philippe Charbonnier)
Financial advisors for the public offer: Société Générale (Stéphanie Kordonian, Stephane Krief, Asgar Sondarjee, Florent Guillermain)
Commercial Due Diligence: Bain & Company (Daphné Vattier, Thibaud Chabrelié, Guillaume Tobler)
Financial Due Diligence: Alvarez & Marsal (Ghislain De Seze, Simon Regad, Guillaume Blanchard)
Legal, tax and social Due Diligence: Kpmg Avocats (Xavier Houard, Thomas Chardenal)
Insurance Due Diligence: Finaxy (Deborah Hauchemaille)
Debt: Eurazeo (Eric Gallerne, Olivier Sesboüe), Tikehau, Eiffel, Bpi – Conseil juridique financement des banques: Paul Hastings (Olivier Vermeulen)

Cathay Capital

Jérémie Falzone, Benoît Seringe, Bertrand Uchan, Marc Lin
Commercial Due Diligence: Roland Berger (Jean-Michel Cagin, Cyrille Vincey)
Legal advisors: Hogan Lovells (Stéphane Huten, Arnaud Deparday)

Artefact

Vincent Luciani CEO Artefact
Guillaume De Roquemaurel Président du Conseil De Surveillance Artefact
Hayette Soltani Chief Financial Officer Artefact
Legal advisors: BDGS (Youssef Djehane, François Baylion, Marie Dupin, Jules Brizi)
Legal advisors to the management: Jausserand & Audouard (Tristan Audouard, Carole Degonse, Antoine Le Roux)
Financial advisors: Cambon Partners (Guillaume Teboul, Michael Azencot, Samuel Koubi, Côme Mullie)
Financial Due Diligence: Alvarez & Marsal (Frédéric Steiner, Nicolas Guillo, Baptiste Rideau)
Legal, tax and social Due Diligence: EY (Mathieu Dautriat, Charles Moulette, Solal Blanc, Adrien Khaznadji, Sylvie Magnen, Thomas Jaegle)