A partnership that delivers.

Transcription

1 December 2016 LOG S and CM-CIC Investissement A partnership that delivers.

2 Log s was founded in 2002 and is now the leading logistics and transport provider in the Hauts-de-France region, and one of France s topthree players in e-commerce logistics. Franck Grimonprez, founder and CEO, talked to us about how his strongly service-oriented vision of the industry is currently enabling Log s to post annual growth of 20%. Franck Grimonprez

3 LOG S and CM-CIC Investissement: logical logistics. How was Log s created? Franck Grimonprez: I come from a family that has been involved in logistics for decades (Transports Grimonprez). After learning the ropes as a manager in a logistics company that wasn t part of the family business, I decided to start a company from scratch at the age of 32, setting up Log s as an alternative to the major logistics groups. My initial funding came from the family, and we were small at the start, with 22 people. That was in The company now has 1,350 employees. In which markets do you operate? F.G.: Originally, our customers were carmakers (Renault, Toyota, Peugeot) and clothing manufacturers (Okaïdi, Jacadi). But we quickly started to ride the e-commerce wave, and e-commerce now accounts for almost 40% of our business. We work with most of the sector s pure plays, such as LaRedoute. fr or Ventes Privées. We also do a lot of business with retail chains like Auchan, Electro Dépôt, Midas and Norauto. Our regional presence means that we are close to the head offices of all those companies, and naturally enables us to form close ties with clients in a region that has major strategic importance in terms of European logistics. How would you describe your business? F.G.: We provide logistics services. We offer our clients a comprehensive and customised service. Our job is to oversee, organise and administer logistics relating to their sales. Of course, we provide upstream and downstream transportation, but we also handle all related tasks, such as quality control, repackaging and labelling for the end-customer. Those additional tasks are sometimes highly involved, such as installing seals on car doors before assembly, or stitching labels and carrying out washing and colour conformity tests for a clothing brand. We also manage online inventories for the restocking of stores and assembly lines, but also to offer a customised ordertaking service for B2C customers. What do you see as tomorrow s challenges? F.G.: Firstly, we have to accompany our clients as they adopt a multichannel approach, in both the B2B and B2C segments. We need to be able to meet all requests, whether they come from a purchasing department, a store, a PC or a tablet. That involves increasing amounts of mechanisation and automation, including a lot of engineering. We are also investing in order to follow our customers abroad. This year, we are focusing in particular on Spain and China. Finally, we allocate a lot

4 of resources to ensuring that all our staff understand the relevance of our business plan and buy into it. It s a plan that puts human beings at the centre of our processes and development. Is your development model focused on organic growth or acquisitions? F.G.: We have a combined model, because our growth has been driven by winning logistics contracts and investing in new platforms (a total of 700,000 m 2 so far), but also by acquiring businesses and companies that lacked investment capacity. We have been able to gain that capacity by attracting investors and carrying out several fundraising rounds since So your investors have been vital to your development? F.G.: In 2006, I convinced our family shareholders that our business was capital-intensive, and that we had to attract more equity financing so that we could invest. However, we were particularly selective regarding the profile of our investors. They had to be 100% committed to our values of availability, responsiveness and customer care. We were also looking for partners capable of supporting a medium- to long-term project. That was precisely what CM-CIC Investissement offered: it has a strong local presence and understands what a medium-sized business really needs, which is rare. Its people now take part in our strategy committee meetings, in order to grow the company and move it forward. 84 million of revenue 1,350 employees 700,000 m 2 of warehouse space

5 LOG S as seen by Philippe Traisnel, CM-CIC Investissement. Philippe Traisnel Since it was founded in 2002, Log s has seen remarkable growth, driven by its founding manager. We started working with the company in 2013 as part of a capital increase designed to give the company new long-term financial resources to support its growth. In particular, we were attracted by the dynamism of the CEO, along with his company s strong culture and growth prospects. With its range of logistics services, agility and capacity for innovation, Log s has in the space of a few years become a major player, ranking among the top 15 logistics companies in France, focusing on logistics in the Hauts-de-France region with almost 700,000 m2 of logistics platforms in use and more than 1,300 employees. Our investment perfectly illustrates CM-CIC Investissement s strategy of supporting growing companies alongside manager-shareholders.

6 FULLY COMMITTED TO YOU Explorer de nouveaux territoires, aller plus haut, aller plus loin... Chez CM-CIC Innovation, nous croyons aux chefs d entreprise qui osent. Quels que soient leurs objectifs de Exploring new territories, aiming higher, going farther... At CM-CIC développement, nous accompagnons, sur fonds propres Investissement, we believe in business leaders who are entrepreneurs. et We dans provide la long-term durée, les support projets and equity technologiques financing to facilitate de plus the de 30 projects sociétés of over à 420 fort companies potentiel, with dans a range le of cadre development d un véritable objectives, as part of genuine partnerships based on mutual trust. partenariat basé sur la confiance mutuelle. TheLINKS.fr - RCS Nantes B Décembre Crédits photos : Getty Images - LOG S. CM-CIC Investissement - Lille 33, avenue Le Corbusier Lille Tél Paris - Lyon - Nantes - Lille - Strasbourg - Bordeaux - Montréal Head office 28 avenue de l Opéra PARIS