Acquisitions in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

EssilorLuxottica has acquired Pulse Audition, a French AI-driven startup that develops noise-reduction and speech-enhancement technology for wearable devices. The purchase brings Pulse Audition's embedded-AI audio signal processing capabilities into EssilorLuxottica's hearing solutions roadmap to enable AI-powered speech enhancement in glasses and other wearable products.

Haudecoeur, a French ethnic foods leader backed by Apheon, has completed the acquisition of Cepasco, the leading French supplier of herbs and spices. The deal (Cepasco was formerly majority-owned by Evoco) strengthens Haudecoeur's position in the herbs & spices market, adds complementary brands and capabilities, and expands the combined group's presence in France and Belgium.

Infraneo acquired Technipipe, a France-based provider of monitoring, maintenance, inspection, and integrity assessment services for pipeline and industrial unit operators. The transaction is supported by Seven2, Infraneo’s majority shareholder, and is intended to strengthen Infraneo’s Energy-sector infrastructure integrity capabilities and expand its European energy vertical.

French industrial services firm ADF Group acquired Tournaire Equipement SAS, the equipment engineering and manufacturing subsidiary of Tournaire Group, effective July 1, 2021. The approximately 30-person business in Grasse strengthens ADF Group’s capabilities in process equipment for fragrance extraction and expands its presence in biochemistry, cosmetics, food and health markets; Tournaire Group will focus on its packaging activities going forward.

Hg has entered into an agreement to acquire stakes in smartTrade Technologies from Keensight Capital and Pléiade Venture. The investment will support smartTrade's R&D and global growth as a leading provider of multi-asset electronic trading solutions; smartTrade's management will remain invested alongside Hg.

NewAlpha Asset Management has acquired a majority stake in Presto Engineering through its Growth Equity fund, investing alongside founder Michel Villemain and with minority participation from Adaxtra Capital and Bpifrance Investissement. The transaction (from sellers Seventure Partners and CM-CIC Capital Privé) will support Presto's international growth, expand its recurring services for the ASIC production value chain, and accelerate deployment into automotive, IoT and other industrial markets.