Satys Aeropace acquires SPI Group.

Satys, based in Toulouse, announced the acquisition of the Group SPI (Société de Peinture Industrielle) based in Malville near Saint-Nazaire (France), to strengthen its market position in the aircraft painting, sealing and surface treatment. A new European leader in surface protection for both sub-assembly and aeronautic parts will emerge from the regrouping of the companies.

With over 40 years of experience in this business, SPI is very active in the aeronautics industry and has many long-standing partners such as Airbus, Airbus Atlantic, Thalès, Safran, Dassault and Daher. It had a turnover of 40 million euros in 2019 vs 25 million euros in 2021(due to the crisis). It employs 500 people at 13 industrial sites in France as well as in Portugal and Morocco. SPI is also present in the space, rail and naval markets. This acquisition will significantly increase the size of Satys Aerospace: the group will have a turnover of 165 million for a full year post-Covid and will have more than 2200 employees in the world with 1300 in France. Satys will thus increase its number of sites from 32 to 45 in 13 countries.

“The integration of SPI within Satys sets the path for a new European leader”

“Our activities are complementary, in both know-how and geographically,” points out Christophe Cador, founder and CEO of the Satys Group. “Like those in Satys, the SPI teams are highly qualified, and its management will maintain its role within Satys ensuring our shared objectives, notably on time delivery, capacity to innovate and reduction of the environmental footprint of our industrial activities. This regrouping of know-how and references, in France and internationally, is also part of a dynamic process of consolidating the industry. In the context of the current economic recovery and the perspective of strong growth of the industry, the integration of SPI within Satys sets the path for a European leader in surface protection aircraft components.” ».The CEO of Satys had already confirmed his ambition to grow in September 2021 when he announced the cash injection undertaken with Ace Capital Partners (subsidiary of Tikehau Capital), Crédit Mutuel Equity, Bpifrance, l’IRDI Capital Investissement and a group of regional investors led by Crédit Agricole Régions Investissement (CARVEST).

The CEO of Satys had already confirmed his ambition to grow in September 2021 when he announced the cash injection undertaken with Ace Capital Partners (subsidiary of Tikehau Capital), Crédit Mutuel Equity, Bpifrance, l’IRDI Capital Investissement and a group of regional investors led by Crédit Agricole Régions Investissement (CARVEST).

“Strong ability to handling increasingly complex and global projects”

“ The synergies between Satys and SPI are obvious,” emphasizes Gregory Mayeur, Satys Aerospace General Manger. “For our customers, this means consistency of the operational performance and strong ability to commit to handling increasingly complex and global projects as well as more innovation and competitiveness.”».

For the managers at Satys and SPI, the synergies between the two companies are the guarantee of increased operational excellence and access to new markets in Europe.“We are proud to work together with teams that have a recognized know-how and the same values. We strongly believe that their complementarity will allow Satys Aerospace to reach its objectives in terms of development,”say SPI President Patrick Monfort and General Manager Frédéric Plouvier. The managers of SPI will play a direct role in supporting this integration by heading up the new BU in a joint Management Committee of both Satys and SPI. Thus, demonstrating the trust already established between the two companies and a strong mutual commitment to the future.

For this acquisition, Satys Aerospace was advised by Ernst & Young for financial and HR due diligence and by Bignon-Lebray law office for legal matters. The SPI Group worked with the Oratio law firm and the Baker Tilly STREGO consulting firm for all social and financial aspects.

The acquisition of SPI by Satys Aerospace will take effect on February 1st, 2022. .

Blagnac and Paris September 30th, 2021 “This operation will strengthen the group’s structure and prepare for both future growth and its role as an actor in the consolidation of the aeronautics industry in France, Europe and the United States,” says Christophe Cador, Satys founder when explaining the new development phase that the French industrial group, based in Blagnac, France, has engaged in. Satys will be reorganized into two separate entities, Satys Aerospace and Satys Interiors and fresh equity will be injected in Satys Aerospace to the tune of 40 million euros. The latter was underwritten by the current shareholders in Satys: Ace Capital Partners (subsidiary of Tikehau Capital), Crédit Mutuel Equity, BPI France, IRDI Capital Investment, Satys Industries owned by Christophe Cador and a pool of regional and national investors from Crédit Agricole led by Crédit Agricole Régions Investissement (CARVEST). The management team headed by Christophe Cador will retain the majority of voting rights. Ace Capital Partners will reinforce its position with a subscription of 30 million euro, becoming the second largest shareholder of Satys Aerospace. This operation will take effect on September 30th, 2021, led by Christophe Cador (CEO), Grégory Mayeur (Satys Aerospace Managing Director), Pierre Yves Fargeas (Satys Aerospace CFO) and Olivier de Froissard (Satys Interiors Managing Director).

250 million euros in revenue by 2025

Similarly to all the players in the aeronautics industry, Satys was hard hit by the Covid- 19 crisis in 2020 and 2021. The group is now looking forward to a gradual return to growth for all its activities. “The most difficult is behind us now”, confirms Pierre-Yves Fargeas. “The equity injection will allow us to consolidate our financial situation, pursue our organic and external growth plans in France and in Europe and our very ambitious industrial CAPEX program, mainly in France. We are heading into the 2022-2026 period committed to meeting our economic, industrial and business challenges. Our undeniable strength comes from our group’s team spirit and method of governance with our investors. The regional banks have provided their unwavering support as well as their confidence in the aero industry. We can continue to count on them.” “We believe in the future of the civil and military aeronautic industry and helicopters and their capacity to bounce back and grow”, explains Grégory Mayeur who predicts by 2025 a revenue of 250 million euros compared to 110 in 2021 and 155 in 2019. “A target that can be met based on several drivers”, says Satys Aerospace Managing Director: “external growth, maintenance and repair (MRO) business recovery especially in the United States, an upturn in production rates as announced by the manufacturers, such as the A320 family (+50% in 2024 compared to 2021) and the ramp-up of the surface treatment activities. The recovery is starting to take shape”, rejoices Grégory Mayeur: “the group’s revenue for the fourth quarter in 2021 will increase by 39% compared to the same quarter in 2020 (+30% on a like for like basis), even if it is still 20% below compared to the same period in 2019.”

Two hundred employees to be hired in 2022

“We are proud that our current financial shareholders continue to show their trust in us, thereby demonstrating their optimism in our industry and in Satys Aerospace. A special mention for Ace Capital Partners: Ace Capital Partners, subsidiary of Tikehau Capital contribution to the capital increase validates our strategy as it brings together the French aeronautic industry support funds and the prestigious investors Airbus, Dassault Aviation, Safran, Thales, Tikehau Capital, the French National Investment agency, BPI France and Crédit Agricole. This operation both honors and obliges us”, insists the group’s founder, “to innovate constantly, deliver on time and on quality, to be competitive and to continue to reduce our carbon footprint for all our activities by investing in new technology”. Christophe Cador also acknowledges the commitment shown by the teams present in 10 different countries, who despite the unprecedented crisis have worked relentlessly over the last 18 months, with the main objective of delivering customer satisfaction. He would also like to thank all the customers as well who maintained their trust during these trying times. “We are enthusiastically embarking on a new phase in the life of the group. It will provide growth, employment – almost two hundred new hires in 2022 - as well as challenge us to onboard new teams”. Marwan Lahoud, President of Ace Capital Partners, subsidiary of Tikehau Capital says: “By underwriting this capital increase and by becoming the second largest shareholder after Christophe Cador founder of Satys Aerospace, we reaffirm our confidence in Satys and its management team. Satys has demonstrated remarkable growth in the past and is now undeniably a key player in the industry and a platform for consolidation of its businesses.”

Satys is continuing to expand its Interiors Railway business unit with the creation of Satys Interiors Railway Switzerland on March 1st.

The main business of this new company will be to design toilet cabin systems for trains. These cabins will then be manufactured by Satys Interiors Railway Spain, our production site in Madrid.

Moreover, this new facility will give us a foothold into the German- speaking market for all of our Railway Interiors products.

Satys Interiors Railway will continue to offer high quality solutions at a competitive price and is working to become the European leader in train interiors.

CTI Systems recently made a decisive step in the development of a new aircraft approach control system by finalising, in one of SATYS' paint shop for long range in Blagnac, France, the Twin Scan Control, as the first step towards the automation of teleplatforms.

2 years of research and development by CTI Systems, and the collaboration of SATYS have led to the implementation of a new revolutionary anti-collision system, theTwin Scan Control, which allows greater precision in aircraft approach through automatic distance control. Both companies, which have been active in the aviation industry for decades, attach great importance to innovation. SATYS, with its user-oriented attention to detail, is constantly innovating in the field of safety. Not only for its staff, but also in terms of meeting deadlines and quality levels. CTI Systems on its side, inventor of the teleplatform, is constantly innovating in the development of products and systems in order to meet the new challenges of its customers.The innovative Twin Scan Control system is based on a real image of the aircraft and not a 3D surface model and as such uses the real aircraft shape including deflection of aircraft structure and position of moving parts like flaps. The systems not only controls the teleplatform speeds depending on the distance to the aircraft skin but also stops the equipment without the operators intervention at a preset distance, thus avoiding touching the aircraft envelope.The Twin scan Control facilitates the operations on the periphery of the aircraft with the target to achieve the highest possible level of safety and quality result. This novelty thus opens the door to the automated trajectory movement of teleplatforms, and consequently to future robotisation.About CTI Systems: CTI Systems, part of the Paul Wurth Group, is a supplier of integrated automated handling and processing systems, especially for heavy loads, with more than 58 years of experience. The product and service portfolio includes automated material handling solutions, aircraft maintenance systems, storage systems, surface treatment facilities, assembly lines, as well as software solutions for production control and optimisation of storage and distribution systems (MES & WMS), including the integration of machines from other suppliers.www.ctisystems.com.

We are pleased to announce the completion of our first Sukhoi Superjet 100! Since December 20, we have completed 3 Sukhoi SSJ100 at our facility in Bratislava with the 4th have to be completed shortly, the aircraft were completely repainted from Aeroflot colours to the livery of Rossiya Airlines .

SATYS Surface Treatment Team is pleased to announce the qualification of SAO NG( Sulphuric Anodic Oxidation New Generation) for SAFRAN VENTILATION SYSTEMS. This qualification adds to the qualifications already acquired for SAFRAN VENTILATION SYSTEMS on Penetrant Testing / Classic OAS / Alodine 1200 /Passivation / Painting treatments.

Satys continues the development of its Aftermarket and VIP Painting Business Unit with the operation of two new paint hangars, based at the Bombardier Singapore Service Centre, the largest private aircraft maintenance center (MRO) in South East Asia.

Bombardier’s line of business jets is the most comprehensive of any original equipment manufacturer (OEM), with three leading aircraft families. Its line of Learjet, Challenger and Global jets allows customers to grow within the Bombardier business aircraft family as their travel requirements evolve. Bombardier has more than over 4,800 business aircraft in operation, in more than 115 countries. With a worldwide network of Service Centers, Mobile Response Trucks and Parts and Component Repair and Overhaul Facilities, Bombardier’s Service and Support teams offer comprehensive capabilities and deliver the highest quality service by the technicians who know Bombardier aircraft best.

“We are very pleased to be working with Satys to provide impeccable paint capabilities at the Singapore Service Centre, offering enhanced service and support options for our Asia-Pacific based customers,” said Jean-Christophe Gallagher, Vice President and General Manager, Customer Experience, Bombardier Business Aircraft. “Customer satisfaction is always a top priority at Bombardier and this key partnership will enhance reliability and expectations, further strengthening our support to our customers.”

According to Fabien Roualdes, Satys Managing Director: “Satys is honored and thrilled to work with Bombardier in developing MRO capacities in South East Asia. This partnership perfectly fits both companies’ strategies and we look forward to delivering the best service to our customers.”

This facility is also capable of accommodating any private jets but also commercial single aisle aircrafts for the Airlines market. It is scheduled to open in the spring of 2020.

 

Bombardier, Learjet, Challenger and Global are registered or unregistered trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.

site employees of Châteauroux with Christophe Cador, CEO, Fabien Roulades, Managing Director and Thierry Melet, Aftermarket & VIP Painting Director of Satys

The Commercial Court of Toulouse on 10 October 2019 chose the industrial project of the Toulouse Satys Group to take over the ATE (Aéro Technique Espace) aircraft painting site in Châteauroux. ATE has been in recovery proceedings since 17 May 2019.

Based at the Marcel Dassault Airport in Châteauroux, ATE employs about forty people and has four paint hangars for wide-body aircraft. This site will complete Satys Group’s range of services, a key industrial player that has experienced steady growth over the last few years.

 Châteauroux, Satys Group’s centre of excellence in Europe for repainting aircraft

“Châteauroux will become our centre of excellence in Europe for the repainting ("Aftermarket Painting") of long-haul aircraft in Europe with a target of 50 aircraft per year. The know-how of the Satys Group combined with that of the Châteauroux teams will enable us to offer a quality and competitive service that meets the requirements of air operators. We will invest in this site. And we are taking on this challenge in France”, said Christophe Cador, Satys CEO.

“By 2019, we will have painted a total of 250 aircraft for the Aftermarket Painting activity and expect the activity to double by 2022,” explained Thierry Melet, Satys Aftermarket & VIP Painting Director.

“I would like to highlight how the professionalism and recognized competence of both the Satys and ATE teams in Chateauroux played an important role in this recovery operation. I would also like to thank our customers and the Centre-Val de Loire Region, owner of the Marcel Dassault Airport in Châteauroux for their ongoing trust,” emphasized Christophe Cador.