Paris, 3 May 2010 – the Jouve Group, experts in the creation, conversion, enhancement and distribution of digital and print content have taken control of Safig. Widely known in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Safig offers services in dematerialization, document processing, and outsourcing solutions for back office work, mostly in the banking, insurance and health sectors, as well as providing direct marketing services.

This expansion will permit the Jouve-Safig Group to profit from the joint expertise of both companies, and to establish itself as:

• One of the French leaders in the BPO market, with a strong market share in key sectors.  Jouve-Safig will serve the needs of many important clients:  Banking (BNP Parisbas Group, Crédit Lyonnais Group, Crédit Agricole, Société Générale), Insurance ( GAN), Mutuals (MMA), and Business services(EDF, ). All customers will benefit from a wide range of unique services enabled by Jouve’s technological expertise.  
• Already the leader in heritage digitization, the Jouve-Safig Group will become the largest service provider to the BNF (bibliothèque nationale de France) both in terms of digitization and data conversion.

According to Pierre-Vincent Debatte, President Director-General of the Jouve Group : « This alliance confirms the strategic desire of the group to establish ourselves in the BPO and heritage digitization businesses with a view to long term growth. We have seized this opportunity to expand our client portfolio in our key markets and to offer them high added value services ».   

In these primary markets, Jouve - Safig will offer complete solutions combining trade expertise, close client relationships, and innovative technology. The JOUVE Group benefits from its ambitious commitment to innovation and Each year, Jouve invests 10% of its turnover to its R&D program.

At the end of this transaction, Jouve will gain operational control of Safig and will hold 75% of Safig.  The pre-existing shareholders 21 Développement 2, BNP Paribas Développement and the Guénin family will retain a 25% interest in the entity.
With a combined turnover of 143 million Euros, and with 2,994 employees in 27 production sites, of which 16 are in France, the Jouve-Safig group has become a major international player in the dematerialization, digitization, multimedia and digital printing markets.

About Jouve

Jouve today covers the entire content chain (creation, conversion, enhancement, print and digital distribution) and offers its clients major technological advantages. Jouve is the leader of eBook conversion in Europe and the United States, and is at the cutting edge of digital and new media distribution Strengthened by its industrial production capacities, the Jouve Group has developed a recognized expertise in content digitization with a guarantee of unrivalled quality.
Digital printing including online solutions imprimermonlivre.com and jouveprintservices.com have allowed Jouve to position itself as a leading provider of digital print on demand (POD) services. Founded in 1903, Jouve is a privately held. Jouve achieved a turnover of 95 million Euros in 2009. Employing 1429 people, its headquarters are in Mayenne with production and sales operations in Paris, Orleans, Rennes, Lens, New York, Vermont, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Poland), in Asia (China, India) and in Africa (Senegal, Madagascar).  40% of Jouve’s  activity is derived from International Markets.

About Safig :

Safig is a company specializing in BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) which operates in document dematerialization and the outsourcing of back office operations for the banking, insurance and health sectors. It is also present in the dematerialization of heritage and cultural archives and data recovery, together with direct marketing (rental and sale of B2B indexes, EDP of addresses and email). The Safig Group was created in 1973, has 1565 employees, and had a turnover of 48 million Euros in 2009. Safig operates in France in Lille, Melun, Rouen, Saint Ouen, Orléans, La Châtre, Bordeaux, Le Mans, Rennes, and abroad in Madagascar and l’île Maurice,  and maintains sales offices in London and Madrid.

Advisers

Jouve’s advisers

• Grant Thornton Corporate Finance : Guillaume Nathan, Marc Lelot, Guillaume Eymar
• Grant Thornton Prévention & Restructuration : Jean-Pascal Beauchamp, Clotilde Delemazure, Christophe Guerner
• Grant Thornton TAS : Thierry Dartus, Cyril Doukhan, Zakariyae el Qotni
• Frieh & Associés : Michel Frieh, Laurence Masseran, Claire Gamain
• SCP Gryson : Jean-Pierre Gryson

Safig’s advisers

• Brémond & Associés : Guilhem Brémond, Virginie Verfaillie-Chavaux, Jérôme Durand
• Dirigeants & Investisseurs : Michel Maire

Financial shareholders’ advisers

• Mayer Brown : Xavier Jaspar, Emily Pennec

Receivers : ?Patrice Brignier and ?Jérôme Cabooter

Representative of the creditors

• Jacques Moyrand

Press Contacts:
Jouve :  Christèle Blay- Corporate Communication Manager - 00 33 1 44 76 54 43 - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it