GEOXIA

The M.I. SA (Maisons Individuelles) group was formed through acquisitions under the umbrella of La Compagnie Générale des Eaux. It was structured around 3 national brands (Maisons Phénix, Maison Familiale, and Maisons Catherine Mamet), together with a range of regional brands. M.I. SA became independent of Vivendi in 1999 through an MBO. Initiative & Finance assisted Natexis Investissement (the new shareholder) and Barclays PE (the outgoing shareholder) in a secondary operation orchestrated in 2003. The group enjoyed strong growth, changed its name to GEOXIA, and asserted its leading position on the French construction market for single-family dwellings, with more than 5,000 houses built each year. A third round was organized in 2006 around the management (who became majority shareholders), Natexis Investissement and Initiative & Finance, as the management did not wish to take the company public. The brutal downturn in the construction market in 2008 led to a sharp rise in WCR together with a decrease in sales, with detrimental effects on cash flow and profits. As part of its state-supervised restructuring, Geoxia was taken over by LBO France in 2009.