Bridgepoint Said to Be Raising $385 Million in Histoire d'Or LBO Funding

Bridgepoint Capital Ltd., a U.K. buyout firm, is raising about 300 million euros ($385 million) to fund its plan to acquire and merge French jewelers Histoire d’Or and Marc Orian SA, according to three people familiar with the deal.

Credit Agricole CIB, Lloyds Banking Group Plc, Natixis and Societe Generale SA are arranging the leveraged financing for the buyout, said the people, who declined to be identified because the information is private.

The arrangers are inviting a group of existing lenders to Histoire d’Or and Marc Orian to join the transaction, the people said. A wider group of lenders will be invited later in September, the people said.

Silverfleet Capital, the current owner of Histoire d’Or, signed an agreement with Bridgepoint, giving it exclusive rights to acquire Histoire d’Or and Marc Orian, according to an e- mailed statement by Bridgepoint and Silverfleet Capital in August.

The deal is due to be completed in October, one of the people said.

CDC Entreprises Capital, the asset management arm of France-based CDC Entreprises, owns Marc Orian. CDC bought Marc Orian in a leveraged buyout in 2006 from Credit Agricole Private Equity, according to a statement on Credit Agricole Private Equity’s website. HSBC and IXIS CIB arranged the 165 million- euro debt facility to fund the acquisition, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Silverfleet Capital bought Histoire d’Or in 2006 from a group of investors led by Apax Partners for 230 million euros. Natixis and Societe Generale arranged the 207 million-euro financing for the takeover, according to Bloomberg data.

Private-equity firms pay for takeovers by loading a target company with debt and using its cash flow to repay lenders.

To contact the reporters on this story: Isabell Witt in London on iwitt4@bloomberg.net; Patricia Kuo in London at pkuo2@bloomberg.net

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