Kardham Group reorganizes its capital to boost growth

Founded in 1992, Kardham has gradually diversified to become a global operator in the design and management of real estate projects. With 600 employees in France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Morocco, the group should generate consolidated sales of 150 million euros by 2023.

Since 2020, the Group has confirmed its position as an independent leader in the interior design of professional spaces, and has embarked on its European expansion with the acquisition of P.O.T. Beratungsteam GmbH and Gabiteco, now Kardham Deutschland and Kardham España.

In 2022, it was recognized as the 6th-largest architecture firm in France, and confirmed its position as a forerunner in Smart Building thanks to Kardham Digital, the first Digital Services Company (ESN) to emerge from the real estate and architecture industries. In this field, the Group has succeeded in transforming its initial ambitions and now employs 80 people dedicated to Kardham Digital, with an average annual growth rate of over 50%. The Consulting division is also expanding, driven by both internal momentum and the merger with the Bluebird Immobilier team in December 2022.

Thanks to its various external growth operations, the Group brings together talented employees with a wide range of profiles and expertise in all areas of the real estate value chain: consulting, architecture and engineering, design&build and digital.

Its ambition is to continue to consolidate its position as an independent leader in its markets by developing its areas of expertise through a controlled and targeted external growth strategy, with the aim of accelerating internationally ('in-house' presence in 5 countries and operations throughout Europe), in the digital sector, and by opening up new synergistic markets in its historical portfolio.

Kardham thus anticipates very strong growth prospects in the field of decarbonizing buildings, which promises to be a major trend over the next few years, backed by the optimization of work surfaces and the design of smart buildings. Kardham has completed a number of landmark projects, including BPCE's headquarters in the Duo towers in Austerlitz (Paris 13th), and the Well22 tower in Luxembourg, which houses the headquarters of Iko Real Estate and is dedicated to employee well-being and energy efficiency.

To support its sustainable growth, Kardham has strengthened its governance under the leadership of Jean-François Couëc, with the extension of David Habrias and Roman Coste's responsibilities on the Executive Committee and the appointment of new Managing Directors. In line with the value-sharing approach initiated over 10 years ago, the Group is also strengthening management's stake in its capital, through a new capital increase.

With all these external and organic projects, the Group aims to double in size within 4 or 5 years

« Thanks to the renewed confidence of our customers, the enthusiasm of our managers and employees, the complementary and strategic support of GENEO Capital Entrepreneur, Bpifrance and our main banking partners (Crédit Agricole Alsace Vosges, Groupe Crédit Mutuel), after almost doubling our business over the 2019-2023 period, we are ready to increase our footprint in France and accelerate it in Europe, while implementing an ambitious Sustainable Development/CSR/Innovation strategy », says Jean-François Couëc, Chairman of the Kardham Group.

François Picarle, Partner at GENEO Capital Entrepreneur adds : « We have been involved with Kardham since February 2020, and we are proud to support the acceleration of the company's development alongside a management team that has demonstrated its ability to deliver a sustainable growth trajectory despite a turbulent environment over the past 3 years. In particular, Kardham's ambitions in terms of digitalization and decarbonization of the building industry, serving new uses for workspaces, employee safety and well-being, and more sustainable cities, constitute a strong impact approach ».

Axel Piriou and Vincent Charles, on behalf of Bpifrance, said: « We are delighted to support the group in its new phase of growth and internationalization, and the development of its expertise in meeting the new challenges of professional real estate. »

PARTICIPANTS

Investors
GENEO Capital Entrepreneur (François Picarle, Marie Kirch), Bpifrance Investissement (Axel Piriou, Vincent Charles),

Directors' legal counsel

Bolze et Associés (Eric Bolze) - Conseil financier Dirigeants : G2 Invest (Guillaume Somekh)

Investors' legal counsel

Joffe & Associés (Romain Soiron, Aymeric Dégremont, Paddy Pascot) - Due Diligence financière : Advolis (Damien Bourg, Marion Bernadou).