For high-fidelity enthusiasts, this name sounds like sweet music: Cabasse. Alain Molinié, CEO of Cabasse Group, announced on Monday, October 17, his decision to put this company, now a subsidiary of the group, on the stock market, the result of a nine-month reflection process. Cabasse Group will be split into two separate entities, one focused on audio, the other on home automation. ” The transaction aims to externalize the value of the luxury audio branch, giving independence to this growing activity, whose model and strategy are distinct from home automation. “, explains Alain Molinié.
The final step for an emblematic brand, founded in 1950 by Georges Cabasse, a lover of classical music who wanted to give musicophiles the feeling of being in a concert hall thanks to state-of-the-art acoustic loudspeakers. For this, he has combined high-end and technology. After eight years in the bosom of the Japanese Canon, Cabasse returned to its Breton stronghold of Brest, in 2014, within what was then called AwoX. ” We invested 12 million euros in Cabasse and devoted the first three years to its industrial transformation,” recalls Alain Molinié. The Brest plant has been redone, the products industrialized, the marketing redesigned. ” We worked on after-sales service, which today is worthy of a luxury jeweler since we repair loudspeakers that are 30 to 40 years old. We redo the parts if we do not have them in stock. At the end of 2018, the brand launched The Pearl collection, revolutionary desired speakers that sell for between 2,000 euros and 25,000 euros. Commercially, it was a turning point.
A growing market
Between 2015 and 2021, Cabasse’s turnover jumped 80%, including growth of 36% in 2021, to 11 million euros, for a gross operating surplus margin (Ebitda) of around 5% last year, against -30% at the time of the acquisition. Exogenous elements, in connection with the tensions on supplies and transport, have however slowed down the progression of the margin in recent months. ” In 2021, additional transport costs weighed on profitability by 5 points, but our Ebitda objectives should be achieved early next year in this division “, assures Alain Molinié, who aims, thanks to the launch of two to three products per year, an average annual growth of more than 15% over the period 2021-2025, accompanied by a normative Ebitda margin of 15% on average. term. The export share should eventually be 80%. She flirted with 50% at the end of the first semester.
Driven by fans of good sound, the global luxury audio market, estimated at just over a billion dollars in 2020, could reach 1.4 billion in 2028. Growth, at first glance, modest since of 3% per year, but, inside, the wireless luxury segment on which Cabasse evolves should progress by 20% to 30% per year, underlines Alain Molinié. The entrepreneur’s objective is clear: to establish itself as a world leader in luxury wireless home audio, on a par with players such as the Danish Bang & Olufsen.
Cabasse listing on Euronext Growth
Technically, how will the split take place? During the Combined General Meeting of November 21, the shareholders of Cabasse Group will be called upon to vote on a resolution relating to the approval of an exceptional distribution in kind of 50.1% of the share capital of Cabasse, up to one Cabasse share for five Cabasse Group shares. ” The value of the Cabasse shares that would be awarded is valued at 9.42 euros per share, i.e. a valuation of the company of 9.7 million based on the book value of the Cabasse shares in the accounts of Cabasse Group as of June 30. “, detail the CEO and the financial director Frédéric Pont, specifying that this evaluation was made by an independent firm. ” Through this dividend in Cabasse shares, we wanted to offer shareholders a return without delay and thank them for the trust they have placed in us.. »
If the resolution is adopted, Cabasse will be independently listed on Euronext Growth. The shareholding structure would be as follows: 49.9% of the capital held by Cabasse Group, 11.9% by the founders, management and historical investors and directors and 38.2% free float. To avoid confusion, Cabasse Group, refocused on home automation, will be renamed Veom Group. On the stock market, the announcement of the split aroused unprecedented enthusiasm: the title Cabasse Group soared 64.5% on Monday, then another 16.6% on Tuesday, to 3.31 euros. Since the beginning of the year, however, it remains down around 23%.
Asked about the distribution of the debt between the two entities, Frédéric Pont indicated that it will be 4.7 million euros at Cabasse, including 2.7 million in loans guaranteed by the State in France and Belgium subscribed in 2021 and 2022 which will be reimbursed from March 2023. “ Our bank rates are all fixed and they have no bank covenant or debt wall to come. »
This split announcement, which comes a few weeks after that of Technicolor in the technology sector, shows one thing: the period is over for diversified companies. Conglomerates, too difficult to analyze, no longer have the wind in their sails, especially when the activities obey different industrial or economic logics. It also reflects, given a market capitalization of only 4.4 million euros on Friday evening, a negative net value of 5.3 million euros for the home automation division based on prices on October 14, preceding the ‘announcement. It’s nonsense, points out Alain Molinié, ” insofar as this branch generates 20 million euros in turnover and has always been profitable, which was not the case for Cabasse for a long time. »