May be ...
QUESTION DE FINANCEMENT

Europlasma may have found a new reference shareholder


ACTUALITÉ

Europlasma on 04/06 indicated that a would-be financial partner had submitted a “continuation” plan to the French courts with a court decision about this offer expected by the end of July 2019. The proposal made by Luxembourg-based Zigi Capital would be to become a reference shareholder, keep the group as is including its industrial partners but restructure both the funding and the governance.


ANALYSE

Zigi Capital seems to be an ad hoc SPV for the purpose of becoming the reference shareholder of Europlasma. At pixel time, we found only skinny information about Zigi Capital. Information relates to the two 50/50 owners. A Mr Alexandre-Henri Lacarré would be Swiss-based and his A&A Development Group runs a property and private equity investment operation. A Mr Jérôme Garnache would have developed an advisory capability after an equity brokerage experience.

Numbers quoted in the communiqué are of limited help to compute how much debt holders and shareholders will lose in this financial restructuring. The silver lining is that the business looks like remaining a going concern, so that shareholders may entertain hopes of avoiding a complete wipe-out. Listing would not restart before the end of July.

The positive signal is that “an immediate financing” of €3.76m will see Europlasma through the “observation period” (to end July?) which means that the investor is seeing value. A French regional funding agency appears to lend €2m with another €30m to follow should the Zigi bid be validated. Terms are unknown.


IMPACT

Survival odds seem to be on the rise.