Daikin France buys contractor BV Groupe

FRANCE: Daikin Airconditioning France has reached an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of industrial refrigeration and air conditioning contractor Groupe BV.

The acquisition will support Daikin France’s expansion into the service and maintenance market for industrial cooling equipment, as well as to develop a new business area with the introduction of a rental solutions package.

This is the first acquisition by Daikin Airconditioning France since it was founded in 1993.

Established in 2011, Groupe BV comprises BV Froid, the original company founded in 2009, and BV Services. From the start of its activities, the company has specialised in the design, installation, maintenance and repair of industrial refrigeration units. It serves the whole of the Hauts-de-France region and has two agencies based in the Oise and Somme regions. It achieved sales of €7.1m last year.

The company’s founders, Franck Buchner and Fabien Van Renterghem, will continue to support Groupe BV’s development, which will retain its name and locations.

“Initially, we opted for organic growth to support our own technical staff. Our targets for providing maintenance services to the industry are very high. In order to give ourselves the resources to achieve our ambitions, we therefore needed to rapidly enhance our skills in this area, and we therefore chose to rely on new experts in the field and on new methods that have proved useful within the Groupe BV,” said Daikin France president Christophe Mutz.

Based in Nanterre, Daikin Airconditioning France operates 13 sales offices, four regional branches, five technical and training platforms and a large logistics centre.

Daikin Airconditioning France achieved a turnover of €580m last year.