In 2008, when Opteven was still a subsidiary of the Royal Automobile Club, the Lyon-based company faced a major strategic turning point. It wasn't the financial crisis that was to blame, but competitors planning to buy the company. Faced with this situation, CEO Jean-Matthieu Biseau took a bold decision: to acquire Opteven, a company included in the Vintage FPCI Altaroc Odyssey 2021.
"We didn't have the personal financial resources to buy the company," he confides. So he turned to private equity, through a leveraged buyout (LBO). The deal was a great success!
"Stability of management and strategy.
The work and support of the investment fund having been beneficial, Opteven will once again pull the Private Equity lever... three times! For almost twenty years now, the company has based its growth on fund-raising.
Opteven has taken advantage of the funds' expertise, in particular to launch innovative projects in data, artificial intelligence (AI) and corporate social responsibility (CSR), a growing topic in its automotive sector. "These subjects require real expertise, which we didn't have in-house. The support provided by Seven2 's specialized teams was a determining factor."
The company's development has also been supported by organic growth, itself fuelled by the expansion of some of its customers such as Volkswagen. "We didn't make any major changes. On the contrary, we played on great stability in management and strategy."
An international outlook supported by the fund
A stable base that subsequently encouraged the development of more ambitious projects. In 2014, Opteven took a new turn by raising its second round of financing to open doors in the UK by acquiring a company. "The fund's experience was particularly valuable to us on this external growth. It enabled us to identify and remove doubts about risks in order to move forward."
Opteven continued its international expansion with acquisitions in Italy, Spain and Germany. "We have a strategy of small acquisitions in various European countries. We'd still like to continue making a few over the next few years, before opting for larger, more transformative acquisitions," he explains in an interview with Altaroc.
The company's international ambitions are underpinned by growth prospects of 15% a year, compared with less than 10% in France, where the market is saturated. In 2024, the company opened a satellite site near its headquarters in Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire), hiring one hundred permanent employees in the process.
A lever for transformation and sustainable performance
With local and international expansion, and technically demanding projects - AI, data, CSR - Opteven has not only found Private Equity a means of freeing itself from its parent company, but a genuine lever for transformation. "One of the main contributions of the fund is to raise the level of ambition. When we set the targets, we said we'd never make it... but we've always made it. It just goes to show that the strategy was the right one.
By providing expertise, strategic vision and operational support, private equity does more than simply finance companies: it enables them to achieve a level of performance they might not have envisaged on their own. This dynamic transformation not only generates growth, but also solid, sustainable returns for investors. A win-win model that makes private equity both a strategic vector for development and an ideal choice for long-term savings, particularly as part of a retirement plan.
Business ID card
Opteven: a white label for the automotive industry
Unknown to the general public, Opteven is nevertheless a key player in the automotive ecosystem. The European leader in automotive warranties, the company operates on a B2B2C basis, marketing insurance, warranty, assistance and repair solutions for a wide range of vehicles: cars, motorcycles, motorhomes and commercial vehicles.
"We can be compared to a pre-sales and car repair service," sums up Jean-Matthieu Biseau. To achieve this, Opteven relies on a network of professional partners - dealerships, garages and brokers - who offer its services directly to drivers.
"One of the main contributions of the fund is to take the level of ambition up a notch."
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Setting up in semi-rural areas: a winning bet?
"In 2022, our Villeurbanne telephone platform suffered the post-Covid effect, with recruitment difficulties and an increase in turnover and absenteeism. At the same time, we had a growing problem with young candidates who didn't have a driving license, but whom we hire to advise motorists," recounts Jean-Matthieu Biseau.
And, in the midst of these challenges, the Villeurbanne building was becoming too small to meet Opteven's growing demand. After considering a location in a regional metropolis with a similar employment pool to Lyon, the company turned its attention to semi-rural areas.
And so, in February 2024, the Puy-en-Velay telephone platform was inaugurated. Within a few months, around a hundred permanent employees had been recruited. In addition to finding people who know the car, Opteven has found greater loyalty and maturity in its recruitment. "It's still early to say, but it looks like we've had a good idea!"
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