21 Centrale Partner

On 28 July 2011, Canaccord Genuity's clients, Orium and Pechel Industries Partenaires, agreed to dispose of Groupe Eminence to LBO France and LFPI Gestion.

Founded in 1944, Groupe Eminence is a European leader in the men's underwear industry:

• In France, Groupe Eminence leads the men's underwear market through its iconic Athena (number 1 in mass retailing) and Eminence (number 1 in selective retailing) brands. It offers male (more than 90% of revenues), female and children's underwear products, primarily through mass retailing channels. The Eminence and Athena brands are also distributed in Belgium and Spain.
• In Italy, the company's Liabel brand is the market leader in mass retail, where it has a 10% market share. Founded in 1851, this historic underwear brand is present in all distribution channels with a product offering designed to meet the needs of the whole family.

Canaccord Genuity has had a long and close association with Vulcanic and the management, having sold the business to 21 Centrale Partners from AXA Private Equity in 2006. Canaccord Genuity ran a competitive auction process involving financial buyers only. A few days after the end of phase I of the process, Ab‚nex Capital was granted exclusivity and was able to submit a binding offer within a week.