Eurazeo, through its Small-mid buyout team, is pleased to announce its investment in Ekoscan Integrity Group (“EIG”), a leading and innovative global provider of advanced non-destructive testing (“NDT”) solutions for critical industrial applications and infrastructure, alongside the company’s founder Hugo Cence and Ekoscan Integrity’s management team. The transaction marks the tenth investment for Eurazeo PME IV and clearly demonstrates the expertise of the Small-mid buyout strategy in supporting fast-growing European technology and services mid-market champions in their international expansion.
Headquartered in France and created in 2015, Ekoscan Integrity is a leading equipment manufacturer and services provider of testing solutions focused mainly on advanced ultrasonic technology. EIG’s solutions are used by 250+ blue chip clients for the maintenance of critical assets and infrastructure (e.g. nuclear power plants, oil pipelines, railways, wind turbines), enhancing monitoring processes, extending assets’ life and preventing failures. Ekoscan Integrity leverages its technological expertise in product design and assembly to offer bespoke hardware testing systems, embedded software, and related services tailored to client needs. The company serves clients in more than 50 countries and generates 85% of its revenues internationally.
In a large and growing global market, Ekoscan Integrity showcases an impressive track record of profitable growth, combining organic growth exceeding 20% with several international acquisitions. The company has accelerated its expansion in a competitive and profitable market, primarily driven by its continuous innovation. This investment will support its ambitious objectives to deploy next-generation Non-Destructive Testing solutions at scale.
Alongside Eurazeo, Ekoscan Integrity welcomes investment from two key industrial partners, Fonds France Nucléaire 2, managed by Siparex, and ALIAD (Air Liquide Venture Capital), current institutional shareholder of the company reinvesting to support the company’s next stage of development. Fonds France Nucléaire 2, supported by EDF and key industrial players in the nuclear sector, invests in companies playing a mission critical role in the industry’s value chain – their support is a testament of EIG’s innovation capability.
The management team of Ekoscan Integrity, the Eurazeo Small-mid buyout team, the Fonds France Nucléaire 2 and ALIAD teams share the ambition of continuing the company’s international expansion, broadening and strengthening EIG’s technological edge in advanced non-destructive testing, and further helping existing clients to maintain and protect their critical infrastructure.
Benjamin Hara, Partner Small-mid buyout, at Eurazeo:
« We are very happy to partner with Hugo Cence and his team with the ambition of creating a global leader in non-destructive testing solutions. Ekoscan Integrity, with its recognized expertise in ultrasonic NDT solutions and unique positioning in asset integrity management, is a perfect match to our strategy of supporting leading businesses with strong organic growth in an industry with clear consolidation potential. We are excited about the prospect of supporting Ekoscan Integrity in its ambitious growth strategy. »
Hugo Cence, CEO of Ekoscan Integrity Group:
« Eurazeo is the partner of choice to support Ekoscan Integrity’s international development. Early on, the Small-Mid Buyout team has showcased a very good understanding of our market and positioning as well as on the key growth drivers for our company, proposing ideas and operational support to help drive our global expansion through dynamic organic growth as well as buy-and-build, notably in the US and in Asia. We are proud of EIG’s growth journey completed until today with the support of Abenex Croissance, EDF and ALIAD (Air Liquide Venture Capital) as institutional shareholders, and are delighted to have the Fonds France Nucléaire 2, including EDF as key sponsor, as well as ALIAD reinvesting in EIG to continue the journey with a common growth ambition. »
