IDEC

The IDEC group was founded in 2000 in Blois by Patrice Lafargue, and is now one of France's leading designers and developers of business and logistics parks in France, as well as being among France's top logistics engineering and agri-food engineering companies. The company specialises in engineering, investment and development in the commercial and residential real-estate sector. It generated consolidated revenue of €310 million in 2016 and it employs 290 people in Blois, Montpellier, Paris and Rennes. For the first time, it is now welcoming a financial partner as a shareholder. Crédit Mutuel Equity, a subsidiary of the Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, has invested €64 million to buy a minority stake in IDEC, to support the group's rapid growth both in France and internationally.

The IDEC group has a novel business model, and is the only group to offer a comprehensive service for custom commercial properties, spanning design, construction, development and investment. Its market position is based on providing tailored solutions for medium and large buildings, which are mainly used as business premises.
The group has three divisions:

• The Engineering division is where the group originated, advising, designing, building and refurbishing properties such as warehouses, factories, laboratories, offices, shops and homes. It operates in a wide range of sectors, including logistics, agri-food, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and biotechnology, in which IDEC has some major clients;
• The Investment division has a diversified business covering commercial, residential and office properties, and is focused on supporting its clients;
• The Development division has both land and property development activities. It designs, markets and builds all types of business, commercial and residential properties.

The IDEC group handles 50-70 transactions, representing more than 300,000 m2 of new space, per year. Around 15 parks are currently under development.
The group has seen constant growth since it was founded, and now wants to step up its development.

"We are at a turning point in the company's history," explained Patrice Lafargue, IDEC's chairman and founder. "The arrival of an investor like Crédit Mutuel Equity (formerly CM-CIC Investissement) - with the support of Banque CIC Ouest, which has been a trusted partner of ours for 17 years - has immediately given us additional capital with which to expand our business-park development activities, but also our residential business, which is seeing rapid growth. As well as strengthening our local presence, including via a possible acquisition in the near future, we also want to expand outside France. We are starting a partnership in the USA with a similar company, so that we can support our clients with their international development. Europe is also a target," he added.

"We are delighted to be able to support this high-quality company, with which we have been familiar for a long time," said Thierry Aubert and Romain Freismuth from Crédit Mutuel Equity. "IDEC's three business lines, which enable it to cover the whole value chain, its stable and highly complementary management team and its ambitious growth plan were attractive to us, making us confident that this successful medium-sized business still has plenty of success ahead of it," they explained.

Contact us