CVC Capital Partners has Entered into Exclusive Negotiations with Astorg Partners to Acquire Linxens

GUYANCOURT, France, July 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

CVC Capital Partners ("CVC") and Astorg Partners ("Astorg") today announced that they have entered into exclusive discussions regarding the acquisition of Linxens (or "the Company") by CVC.

Headquartered in France, Linxens is the global leader in the design and manufacture of smart card connectors. Linxens has 1,100 employees, five manufacturing facilities and three research and development centres in Europe and Asia. The Company's connector products are a vital component of smartcards, enabling the communication and transactions that are central to a wide range of consumer, financial and public sector applications, including banking cards, SIMs for mobile telephony, ID and health cards, to name a few.

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About Linxens 

Linxens is a pioneer and world leader in the design and manufacturing of smartcard connectors, with revenues of EUR 253 million (fiscal year 2014).

Present in the Payment, Telecommunications, eID and Transport & Access markets, it offers innovative connectivity solutions to card manufacturers, chip makers and integrators. Building on its customer intimacy, unique technology portfolio and large scale industrial capabilities, Linxens has broadened its solution-based product offering to include antennas and specialty IC substrates.

Linxens employs over 1000 employees worldwide, with manufacturing and R&D sites in Europe and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.linxens.com.

About Astorg Partners  

Astorg is an independent private equity fund management company, specializing in European mid-market buyouts, with total funds under management of over €2 billion. Astorg seeks to partner with successful and entrepreneurial management teams, to acquire businesses - very often family-owned - with attractive growth prospects, which Astorg supports through the provision of experienced governance and adequate capital. Astorg enjoys a distinct entrepreneurial culture, a long-term shareholder perspective, and a lean decision-making body enhancing its reactivity. Although a multi-sector investor, Astorg has developed solid industry expertise in healthcare, business-to-business professional services and niche industrial companies selling differentiated, often technology-driven, products. Astorg is headquartered in Paris and has offices in London and in Luxembourg, plus Senior Advisors based in Holland, Switzerland and Germany. Visit http://www.astorg-partners.com for more information.

About CVC Capital Partners 

CVC Capital Partners is one of the world's leading private equity and investment advisory firms. Founded in 1981, CVC today has a network of 22 offices and over 300 employees throughout Europe, Asia and the US. To date, CVC has secured commitments of over US$79 billion in funds from a diverse and loyal investor base, completing over 300 investments in a wide range of industries and countries across the globe, with an aggregate transaction value of over US$120 billion. http://www.cvc.com