IMI, a family-owned group, was founded in 1987 by Jean-Pierre Gérard, the father of its current chairman Antoine Gérard. With its eight companies, IMI serves the Swiss watchmaking industry with its high-tech skills. It is now acquiring all shares in the Stettler group, an internationally renowned producer of sapphire glass, which will strengthen IMI's leading position in its market and broaden its product range.

With its six production plants - three in the Besançon area, one in Switzerland, one in Portugal and one in Mauritius - and 400 employees, IMI uses its acknowledged expertise in watchmaking to provide high-tech solutions for producers in the jewellery, luxury accessories, aerospace, medical and electronics sectors.

In the last 20 years, the watchmaking industry has consolidated around large groups, while their subcontractors have remained highly fragmented. Antoine Gérard is convinced that these companies need to consolidate, and so has seized the opportunity to become a leading subcontractor to the watchmaking industry by acquiring the Stettler group.

Stettler Sapphire, based in Lyss, Switzerland, produces watch crystals (flat crystals, domed, spherical crystals, toric crystals and special components), as well as synthetic sapphire components for industrial applications in the medical, electronic and optical fields. Stettler employs 320 people: 120 in Lyss and 200 at its subsidiary in Mauritius.

To support it with this acquisition, IMI's management called upon a group of financial investors consisting of Crédit Agricole Régions Investissement - Carvest, Crédit Mutuel Equity (formerly CM-CIC Investissement) and BDR Invest (Caisse d'Epargne/Natixis PE).

"The Stettler and IMI groups show great potential for achieving synergies, forming an independent, family-owned manufacturing group that acts as a technology integrator for the luxury goods industry and is a leading player in its markets. We are an excellent fit in terms of expertise and experience, which will help us to meet the requirements of our clients, particularly in view of the new "Swiss Made" requirements. We chose financial partners that have a strong local presence and that focus on long-term equity investments," explained Antoine Gérard. The Gérard family still owns most of the group's shares.

"With the IMI group, the Gérard family has built a sector leader based around Cheval Frères, an industrial flagship in the Franche-Comté region of France. For IMI, the acquisition of Stettler is a game-changing deal that is fully consistent with its strategy. It will bolster the group's industrial expertise and human resources, as well as giving it a new dimension, with the support of committed family owners. As a result, it was an easy decision for us to support this cross-border industrial project," said Mikaël Brelot, Investment Manager at Carvest.

"The IMI group has always shown great adaptability, even in difficult economic circumstances. The company has a strong reputation; it is regarded as highly reliable, with a leading-edge production system and a client base including some of the world's top watchmakers. It has numerous technical skills that are enabling it to expand its offering and provide comprehensive solutions, both in the luxury watch industry and elsewhere. Our ability to invest over the long term also fits very well with the Gérard family's philosophy," added Franck Chevreux, Principal at Crédit Mutuel Equity.

Focus on the "Swiss Made" label:

The Swiss watch industry accounts for 95% of the world's luxury watch market by value. As part of the Swiss government's recent "Swissness" legislation, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry recently tightened the criteria for watches and watch movements to qualify for the "Swiss Made" label. The partial amendment of the "Swiss Made" ordinance came into force on 1st January 2017: 60% of a watch's production cost (excluding the strap) must be generated in Switzerland.

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Investors
  • Carvest
    Mikael Brelot
    Investment Manager
  • Hans de Breda
    Chief Executive Officer

Crédit Mutuel Equity

  • Franck Chevreux
    Principal
    Tél.: (0)3 88 37 74 91
  • Managing Director, Thierry Wendling
  • BDR Invest
  • Mathieu Perrot
    Principal

Investor advisors

  • Legal advisor: Quadratur (Gilles Fresel)
  • Financial due diligence : Advance Capital (Olivier Poncin, Thomas Bettan)
IMI group
  • Antoine Gérard, Chairman of the Management Board

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