17 January 2022
ENGIE and Mr. Bruno Monnier have announced the signing of an agreement to completely spin off Culturespaces with the consortium composed of IDI, a listed group specializing in capital investment, and the Chevrillon group. Bruno Monnier, CEO and founder of Culturespaces will retain his minority stake in the consortium. With ENGIE and Mr. Monnier owning an 86.14% and a 13.86% stake respectively, Culturespaces is a French specialist in comprehensive management services for cultural venues and a world pioneer in creating digital art centers and immersive exhibitions.
Founded in 1990 by Bruno Monnier, Culturespaces has more than 30 years’ experience in the management of cultural venues in France, in which 4.6 million visitors were welcomed in 2019, for a ca. €70M turnover. As a private operator in the overall management of monuments, museums and art centers at the on-set, Culturespaces has gradually become a benchmark in the creation of digital art centers and immersive exhibitions, with the opening in 2018 and 2020, of the Atelier des Lumières in Paris and the Bassins des Lumières in Bordeaux. The company’s development continues internationally with the opening this year of three new art centers in New York, Amsterdam and Seoul.
By linking Culturespaces to financial partners that can provide long-term support during its next growth phase, this sale should formalize and ensure the pursuit of efforts lead by ENGIE and Bruno Monnier to develop the company. Indeed, the consortium intends to speed-up the international growth of Culturespaces, a leader in management services for cultural sites.
The information and consultation process involving staff representative bodies has been undertaken and the transaction should be finalized by the end of the first half of 2022.
In the context of this transaction, Sycomore Corporate Finance acted as financial advisor to Culturespaces and its management team. The Sycomore team was composed of Pierre-Arnaud de Lacharrière, Laurent Bricco, Marion Pouchain and Adrien Starck.