The atmosphere was not to the celebrations, Wednesday, November 10, within the specialized press group Monitor. The extraordinary social and economic committee (CSE), which was held in the afternoon, received a document entitled “Serious risk expertise relating to workload and psychosocial risks”, with severe conclusions, of the Alterventions firm. In the process, the elected representatives of the CSE unanimously voted for a resolution calling for a ” action plan ” to management within one month. A day with the allure of a climax, after months of tense social climate in the “Construction pole”, one of the entities of Infopro Digital.
For the largest French professional press group (Free news services, The new factory, Insurance Argus, etc.), also known for its activity as a software publisher and its expertise in events (Le Salon des maires), this study comes at a pivotal moment. Its owner, the Towerbrook fund, has decided to part with the 74% stake it owns, as revealed Strategies and The echoes, beginning of October. Morgan Stanley bank was mandated to find a successor to the investor, who returned to the company’s capital in 2016.
Present in the automotive, distribution and insurance industries, the group is doing well. So much so that the fund values it for 2 billion euros, against 700 million euros when it was acquired. Between 2001, when the company was founded, and 2019, turnover increased from 23 million to 445 million euros. “With an Ebitda [excédent brut d’exploitation] fallen to 110 million euros in 2020, due to the stoppage of exhibitions and the drop in software sales, this valuation seems enormous to us ”, estimates a journalist of one of the 30 titles of Infopro Digital. “We thought rather that an IPO would take place soon, adds Jérôme Ribault, secretary of the CSE and FO union representative. We don’t know what’s best, or worst, for us. “
Increase in layoffs and resignations
This prosperity owes a lot to the policy of acquisitions – in particular the German Docu Group, the British Haynes and Barbour ABI (announced on November 2) – but also, still according to the document, to the health of the employees of the Monitor group. In this part of Infopro Digital, growth would be “A strategy of financial maximization ensured for the most part by the continuous reduction of the resources of the acquired entities (almost permanent decrease in staff, low internal investments)”.
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