The final episode in the BVA saga – Alcentra ousted, BVA retains French ownership
Published 2 months ago
Delphine Zhuang (London Associate at Winston & Strawn)
Summary
On 13 January 2021, the Court of Appeal of Toulouse (the
Court) rendered its decision on the BVA case. It gra nted XPage ownership of BVA, overturning the French Tribunal’s judgment who had selected Alcentra’s bid back in September 2020. The Court eventually sided with the public prosecutor’s arguments that a foreign (i.e. non-French) fund might dismantle the company’s workforce, despite Alcentra’s reassurances to the contrary.
Background
Founded in 1970, BVA specialises in market research for public and private clients, with methodologies based on data science and behavioural science. In 2018, BVA generated a turnover of EUR 165 million, which increased to EUR 200 million in 2019, to decrease by 40%, as a result of the Covid pandemic-related lockdown in 2020. It employs over 900 employees worldwid