In 2003, a private investor together with Target Co-Investment Fund s.a. buys the company Maes Printing Solutions s.a.. Maes produces digital prints with sophisticated and modern printers for institutional clients and big corporate accounts such as IBM, Henkel, L’Oréal and BNP Parisbas Fortis. In 2011, the private investor, Manu Galot, decides to buy the 83% remaining shares that Target still holds. Together with Icafin they realize this transaction in a couple of months. Icafin was responsible for the negotiations, the valorization, the financing of the deal, the contract and assisted Manu Galot during this process whilst he could concentrate on managing his business.

Manu Galot on the cooperation with Icafin : "Icafin takes full responsibility from day one in this process. Together we were a team and I could minimalize my involvement in this transaction and could concentrate on my company. Target was a very valuable financial partner but this cooperation is by definition only temporarily. We were very happy when they accepted our offer. The service that Icafin gives is very dynamic and professional and it really gave a win-win situation throughout their involvement in this Corporate Finance transaction."

Sotrad Water was created in December 2009 by two partners with an extensive experience in Western Africa with the goal to provide access to drinking water for all. Sotrad Water develops, manufactures and markets mobile and semi-mobile water treatment units producing between 0,3 and 100 m3/h of drinking water from surface water. The Company proposes high-quality products, requiring little energy and almost no consumables combining high technologies including ultra-filtration membranes. The market of Sotrad Water is huge, ranging from drinking water for remote populations to process water for industries and equipment for emergency situations. The most promising markets are governments, international organizations and NGO’s.

In order to continue and to accelerate its commercial development, Sotrad Water was looking for investors ready to embark in this very ambitious and rewarding project and support the international growth of the Company. Only 4 months after Icafin started the mission, two new private investors committed to the project through convertible loans.

Jean-Charles de Muylder, founding partner and CEO of Sotrad Water: “The complete dedication and the experience of the Icafin team was a key determinant to our success. Icafin realized an outstanding job preparing a clear and structured confidential information memorandum, advising in the negotiation with our future partners and proposing creative solutions. The collaborative spirit of Icafin led us to a rapid closing that allowed us to concentrate on our business.”

Created by four partners having previously worked in international consultancy firms (KPMG and PWC), Ann Franssens, Stefaan Van de Ryck, Anouk Decock and Eric Hassenberg, OASIS Consultants (www.oasisconsultants.com) is based in Zaventem next to Brussels and is mainly active in Flanders. With a team of 40 consultants, OASIS Consultants is one of the few Gold Partners of SAP who attributes this qualification to their best and most active partners. The company implements among others SAP Business All-in-One solutions for SME and SMI including SAP’s BusinessObjects.

OASIS Consultants is active in sectors such as Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals, Real Estate, High Tech, Public Sector, Telecom, Consumer Goods and Retail. Over the past 10 years numerous companies have worked together with the OASIS consultants who are known to be among the best on the Belgian market.

With more than 70 SAP integration projects referenced by OASIS Consultants, this external growth project gives a whole new dynamism for the ERP activities of Micropole SA (www.micropole.com). This company is listed on the Euronext Paris and has 1.200 employees who service around 800 customers (80% of the Parisian CAC40). This acquisition is paid in cash with part of it being reserved for an earn-out mechanism based on the sales and profitability performance of OASIS Consultants in the years to come.

Stefaan Van de Ryck, one of the four founders of OASIS Consultants, adds: “we finally chose for Icafin since their approach was more professional and more personal. This was confirmed throughout the process. 242 candidates were identified of which 140 were contacted in total confidentiality. Finally, 4 candidates were chosen to participate in the process and eventually we chose to team up with Micropole. We want to create quality relationships with our customers and our employees. This philosophy is in line with the one of Micropole, facilitating our partnership from day one. Icafin understood this from the beginning and the quality of their work, their professionalism and dynamism were an important asset throughout the realization of this project.”

Icafin closed a new capital increase of Voice-Insight, that will help the commercial development and international growth of the company.

Voice-Insight provides mobile workers with voice interaction solutions offering an unequalled productivity increase and ease of integration. Its applications are particularly suitable for warehouse logistics, Geographic Information Systems, maintenance, quality control and vehicle navigation.

The patented VQL™ (Voice Query Language) application of Voice-Insight solutions enable voice interaction with application software (like Warehouse Management System, Enterprise Resource Planning, Geographic Information System, Video On Demand) and in certain cases with sensors like GPS, Barcode readers, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, Digital Camera’s.

Charles Kemper, CEO of Voice-Insight: “The collaboration with Icafin started at a crucial moment for Voice-Insight: when products were deployed at references client’s sites and when the technical (robustness) and economical (ROI) proof of Voice-Insight solutions was achieved. The key was then to find new funding in order to invest in the commercial development and replicate past successes. The quality, competence and commitment of Icafin in this collaboration exceeded all expectations that I could initially have.”

TicTac Photo produces personalized photo products via internet such as photo books, calendars and prints.

The assets of the legal entity of TicTac Photo, Kordell & Kordell SA located in Forest, has been bought from the liquidator by the management of the company through a new constituted company, Hemera Photo. Kordell & Kordell had experienced financial problems since a while since it operated through a a creditor’s protection program for over two years. The board of directors stopped all activities on August 31st 2010. Icafin helped the managers to organize this Management Buy Out (MBO) with the help of 2 external partners: Maes Printing Solutions sprl and Pierre-Paul De Beir. In a limited amount of time could this MBO be realized while other partners tried to do the same in this growing market of photo books and photo prints.

Nicolas Makaroff and Fabrice Fonder, managers and new shareholders: ”We were able to formulate our proposals through the structured approach of Icafin, which led to a succesful and fast conclusion of this deal. The knowledge of Icafin of a MBO gave us the time and confidence to continue to manage our company throughout the time of this complex transaction.”

Icafin has received the official acknowledgement of the NYSE Euronext to become a listing sponsor for the Alternext Brussels listing.

Icafin announces that the shareholder of BvD-IT Services SA, an SAP Service Provider with operations in Belgium and France, have sold all their shares to SOA People, an internationally renowned group specialized in the implementation of SAP solutions.

Since it foundation in 1988, BvD-IT Services has developed its consultancy activities around SAP solutions. As a SAP services partner in large accounts, SAP All-in-One partner in SMEs and BI (Business Intelligence) preferred partner of SAP, BvD-IT Services is a leading market player in the SAP integration business in Belgium.

BvD-IT Services has almost 100 employees and operates for prestigious customers active in institutional and private business.

Through this acquisition, SOA People strengthens its market position in SAP consultancy, thus becoming the first SAP service provider in Belgium and in Luxembourg.

Icafin was mandated by the sellers to do an industrial search and find an exit plan for all of the shares of BvD-IT Services SA.

Joël Pissoort, CEO of BvD-IT Services SA: “We are happy and proud to join forces with SOA People; the experience and competence of the group’s management team enabled SOA People, despite the current crisis, to build a healthy, prosperous and durable enterprise where human capital is key, which is a vital asset for our employees as well as for our customers.”

Icafin announces that it has managed and closed a capital increase for Xylowatt SA, aimed at financing the expansion and comforting the technological lead in wood gasification for Xylowatt.

Xylowatt was created in 2001 as a spin off of the Université Catholique de Louvain, and has developed in 2007 a unique technology for wood chips gasification with its NOTAR® xW300. This 300 KWe gasification and cogeneration unit has been designed to produce a virtually “tar free” gas able to match the requirements of the cogeneration engines. Today Xylowatt runs three such units in Belgium, and is currently assembling a fourth one for delivery in the UK in H1 2010.

This technological breakthrough allows Xylowatt to speed up its commercial development with three potential markets in sight: green electricity with wood gas cogeneration, carbon free gas for industry as substitutes to fossil energy, and decentralised power for less developed and emerging markets.

The € 6.5 Million will be used partly to finance further R&D expenditures as well as for supporting the commercial development of the company mostly via the funding of Xylowatt, a subsidiary dedicated to set up projects and to run cogeneration plants based on the Xylowatt technology.

The current transaction includes a € 4.5 million a new equity issuance subscribed partly by the existing shareholders, including VIVES, BAF, HAMON, and EBW, and new private shareholders including Laurent Minguet and Laurent Leveaux and for € 2 million by two governmental funds SFPI and SRIW who also provide € 2 million in the form of bonds with warrants on Xylergy.

Olivier Lefebvre, the Chairman of the Board, said: “Xylowatt is now well equipped to rollout its technology in the very promising biomass energy business, and bring its contribution to a carbon free and sustainable development”.

Icafin concluded in the summer of 2009 the sale of the assets of Cosanit to Facotherm SA. Cosanit is a Belgian distributor of sanitary equipment and has 4 sites in Belgium: Bièvre, Mons, Liège and Charleroi.

Cosanit is part of the French Group Groupe Pierre Henry, which specializes in high-end and industrial kitchens. The activity was not core anymore for the French group and Icafin found the suitable buyer and accompanied the sale in this complex process. Facotherm is a direct competitor to Cosanit and is a strong player in its market.

Norma Belgium sa, formerly Aba of Belgium and a subsidiary of Norma Group Gmbh started a factory back in 1974 to produce and sell clamps to connect hoses. Its applications were mainly for the automotive sector with all major car makers being customers. In 2006, 3i bought Norma from its family owners.

Due to the general difficult economic situation, the official Renault procedure was implemented at the Belgian location in September 2008 which was followed by a significant reduction of the work force in November of that year. Consequently, the company was stripped of all its assets and inventory and remains only a trading company.

On March 26th, 2009 Norma Belgium sold its premises to Cartonnages Delsaux. Stephan Koenig, Executive Director HR Norma Group:

“Icafin did a professional job in combining the reorganization of the business with the management of the people and the transaction of the sale of the plant in difficult circumstances. They found the right balance throughout this project in shareholder’s value and the interest of personnel, customers and suppliers.”

Olivier Strelli designs and sells high scale (“haut de gamme”) apparel and accessories, both for women and men. The brand has a contemporary image and is characterized by the use of original materials, rich colours and sophisticated tailoring. The company sells its products through several channels of distribution to customers in Benelux, France, the Middle East and the Far East. Furthermore, the marketing into accessories, such as leather goods, shoes, watches, a perfume and bed linen has been very successful. The brand reports around EUR 45m of turnover.

Evercapital from France believed in the project and Mr Israël’s son, Olivier, together with Jacky Franco, Creative Director, were willing to co-invest in the new start through.

Icafin advised the seller, Nissim Israël. Evercapital was contacted in this process through a cooperation with Icafin’s corresponding office in Paris, Trianon Corporate Finance.

Nissim Israël: “Icafin did a great job in pulling this project to a successful finish. They believed in the company and found the best possible buyer both for me as a seller and for the company’s future. Icafin made sure that the buyer will keep the identity of Olivier Strelli’s image and culture and used all their professional savoir-faire to put in place the financing of the Management Buy Out in full banking crisis. That’s what Icafin’s value added approach stands for.”