The company T2S (Thiollier Sécurité Signalisation) was founded in 1975 and has been managed since then by Pierre Bonnevialle. In 1985, Mr Bonnevialle bought out the industrialist Thiollier, then made it prosper markedly at a growth rate of 12% per year. In 1993, and although he did not really want to, personal reasons led him to plan to sell his shares, and he began to search for a leading shareholder. As he had just met with Orfite, he accepted the partnership that Orfite offered up.
Orfite – Gentle risk capital with a human face.
Orfite took a majority stake in the capital of T2S in 1993. Interested by the success of this company, Orfite had previously studied its market in order to comprehensively learn about its economic environment.
From the moment when Orfite became the leading shareholder, a close collaboration began with Pierre Bonnevialle who, from the outset, appreciated what he called “risk capital with a human face”.
From the moment when Orfite took a majority stake, I was determined not to disappoint my leading shareholder, so I worked twice as hard!
Thanks to Orfite, Pierre Bonnevialle was no longer alone as a manager and was supported in his strategic decisions. Orfite’s presence also contributed to the organisation of the company. Reassured, the chairman and managing director of T2S recruited a managing director and strengthened the supervision of the company.
Two years before the planned maturity, the senior debt was repaid. Pierre Bonnevialle wished to purchase the shares held by Orfite, which respected his wishes and thus the continuity of the company and its management.
Orfite is not there to asset strip, but to develop the facilities and human capital.
Pierre Bonnevialle thought of leaving T2S two or three years before its acquisition by Orfite, but in the end, the collaboration with the leading shareholder lasted years. Orfite’s model is so convincing that the chairman and managing director of T2S replicated it in 2004, becoming the majority shareholder in a small competitor, Chatard, where he heads the managerial team.
Confident in the expertise and profitability of Orfite, Pierre Bonnevialle became an investor himself as of 1994.