Activa Capital Organizes BFI Optilas Management Buyout

Activa Capital Fund FCPR, an independent private equity firm, announced it has bought a majority stake in specialty electronic and photonic product distributor BFI Optilas of Evry, France. BFI Optilas's co-presidents, Phil Dunning and Philippe Gruson, completed a management buyout of the company on April 28 for an undisclosed sum from Avnet Inc., a Phoenix, Ariz.-based global distributor of electronic components.

Founded in 1998 by the merger of BFI Ibexa and Optilas Group, BFI Optilas has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Avnet since 1995 and has operated as a separate organization in its European Electronics Marketing Group. Activa said Dunning and Gruson will reinvest in the management buyout with other key managers. Avnet retains a minority stake in the company.

Activa said it will embark on "an ambitious growth strategy both organically and by acquisition in the fragmented European specialty electronic distribution market."

Activa Capital, based in Paris, manages funds on behalf of European financial institutions, including pensions, insurance companies and other funds, and for individual investors.

For more information, visit: www.activacapital.com