In a four-year LBO with HLD, the supplier of energy distribution infrastructures for service stations has just exceeded €1.1 billion in revenues and signed two acquisitions: photovoltaic panel specialist Alvarez Solaire, based in Charente Maritime, and German company Kegler Kälte, which specialises in the installation and maintenance of air conditioning systems.
By Houda El Boudrari
Published on CFNews
TSG is making acquisitions to speed up the transformation of its business model towards new energies for mobility. Since its LBO with HLD in 2020, the former services division of the inventor of Tokheim petrol pumps has made 24 acquisitions, including two recently. Supported by Financière de Courcelles in its search for non-process targets, TSG acquired Alvarez Solaire, a company based in south-west France specialising in the installation and maintenance of photovoltaic panels, as well as German company Kegler Kälte, which specialises in the installation and maintenance of air-conditioning systems.
1.1bn in revenues
Jean-Marc Bianchi, TSG Group
These two modestly-sized add-ons, each with sales of less than €10m, round out TSG’s operations and capacity in the solar and HVAC (heating and air-conditioning) segments. The group, which had sales of some €650m at the time of its LBO in 2020, passed the €1.1bn mark in revenues for its last financial year ending 30 April 2024, up 16% on the previous year. The acceleration in its growth was mainly driven by its diversification into electric mobility, the development of its Gas/Biogas and Hydrogen activities, and the expansion of its multi-technical offering for service stations. “For the first time, service activities linked to new energies for mobility have exceeded 30% of our consolidated sales, which are now balanced between traditional energies, new energies for mobility, and other technical services for infrastructures and payment solutions”, boasts Jean-Marc Bianchi, Chairman and CEO of TSG, who intends to continue this growth trend and has already announced six acquisitions of a more significant size in the pipeline for the coming months.
The weight of electricity multiplied by 100
The acquisition of Alvarez Solaire is part of TSG’s strategy of developing photovoltaic solutions, sometimes combined with energy storage. This business, which was launched in 2023 with a number of solar panel installation projects in Italy, Eastern Europe, Africa and France, was bolstered by the build-ups of JCM Solar last summer and Eco-Cycle Environnemental Group (EEG), a Johannesburg-based company also focused on solar energy, in September. This development complements the shift towards electric vehicles, which will account for €280m of sales by 2023/2024, an almost 100-fold increase in four years, with more than 50,000 charging points installed and maintained in Europe. As for the acquisition of German company Kegler Kälte, two years after that of fellow German Werner Stuhr, it is part of the strengthening of TSG’s facilities and building management offer to support its customers in the multi-service development of their service stations (catering, workspaces, shops, etc.). Representing some €200m of the group’s turnover, this offering is in line with TSG’s ambition to become the ‘one-stop shop’ for technical services, thanks to the expertise of its teams in electricity, ventilation, refrigeration, video surveillance, signage, etc.
