Wifirst supported by CAPZA and its historical investors Bpifrance, Amundi and Socadif in a new phase of its growth

CAPZA, a major player in private equity investment in European SMEs, acquires a majority stake in French operator Wifirst*, through its Flex Equity Mid Market expertise, alongside the founder and historic financial investors Bpifrance, Amundi Private Equity Funds and Socadif.

Founded in 2002 by Marc Taieb, its current Chairman, Wifirst is the B2B telecom operator specializing in WiFi for professionals. The Group is one of the pioneers of the "as a Service" connectivity model. It offers its customers a complete, tailor-made package including audit, design, deployment of a very high quality WiFi network (with full site coverage), connection of sites to the core network, supervision by AI, site maintenance and upgrades .

As the digitization of businesses has made WiFi indispensable for working, this scalable multiservice WiFi offering enables Wifirst to meet the challenges of its customers' digital transformation: simplified management, a single point of contact, optimized costs, enhanced quality of service and productivity, and a richer customer and employee experience.

The Wifirst offering is winning over an ever-growing number of companies, particularly in the following markets: Tourist Accommodation, Retail, Corporate, Health & Senior, Defense and Student Housing. The Group maintains long-term relationships with very loyal customers, based on multi-year contracts offering high visibility and recurring sales. Today, Wifirst is Europe's leading managed WiFi operator, with almost 200,000 WiFi terminals in operation covering 700,000 homes and 10,000 offices/points of sale, to which over 3 million terminals connect every month.

Headquartered in Paris, Wifirst employs nearly 260 people, mainly in France. The Group extended its international network by opening offices in the UK and Spain in 2016, and plans to expand into new countries this year , notably Germany and Italy. Wifirst has achieved average growth of more than 20% over the last ten years, and will reach sales of 65 million euros in 2021.

Continuing its commitment to responsible digital, Wifirst joined "Global Compact France" in 2021 by signing the UN charter to promote socially responsible attitudes, and is thus committed to sustainably integrating the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact into its corporate strategy.

With the support of CAPZA and its historic shareholders, Wifirst aims to reinforce its status as a leader in France by accelerating its development in new segments, and in particular by positioning itself more strongly in the corporate WiFi market, while accelerating its international development through a strategy of targeted acquisitions. CAPZA will also support the Group in implementing concrete actions that will help it meet its sustainable development objectives.

As the European leader in managed WiFi, Wifirst is recognized by its customers for its quality of service and its pure player status. We are convinced of its strong growth potential, both in France and internationally, and we are proud to support Marc Taieb and his teams in this new stage of the Group's development. We were also won over by his responsible approach to digital technology, which is supported by all his teams and is fully in line with our investment strategy. - Guillaume Basquin & Frédéric Chiche, Partners & Co-Heads, CAPZA Flex Equity Mid Market (ex-Expansion).

In CAPZA we have found a partner of choice to support us in accelerating our development, while pursuing our program of technological innovation. The CAPZA teams have an international network and real expertise in external growth operations, enabling us to envisage strategic acquisitions to strengthen our position in Europe. - Marc Taieb, CEO of Wifirst.

Over the past few years, Marc Taieb and his teams have done a remarkable job in enabling Wifirst to continue its strong growth and become a leading French player in managed WiFi. We are delighted to have been able to accompany them since 2019 and, convinced of the growth to come for the group, Bpifrance is happy to be part of this new stage in its development alongside its new reference shareholder - Charles-Henri Boyer, Director of Participations Capital Développement, Bpifrance.

We are very proud to have accompanied Wifirst in its development over the past 3 years: the strength of its value proposition and the quality of its teams have enabled the group to break new ground and attract a number of prestigious new customers. We are delighted to open this new chapter with a new reference shareholder, convinced of the accelerating potential of our future association - Frédéric Labia, Associate Director, Amundi PEF.

CAPZA joins the Group as a majority shareholder, alongside the management and the historical shareholders Amundi Private Equity Funds, Bpifrance and Socadif, who are reinvesting on this occasion. CAPZA's investment will be made through its Flex Equity Mid Market II Fund, making this its second transaction.