BDA advises Edenred on acquisition of Barclay Vouchers

Business Development Asia LLC (“BDA”) is pleased to announce that its client, Edenred SA (EDEN.PA; “Edenred”), the world leader in prepaid corporate services, has acquired Barclay Vouchers Co., Ltd. (“Barclay Vouchers”) in Japan.  BDA initiated the transaction and served as the exclusive financial advisor to Edenred.

With the acquisition of Barclay Vouchers in Japan, Edenred has launched operations in its 39th host country. The transaction has enabled Edenred to establish a foothold in a country that enjoys significant growth potential, with 63 million employees and a penetration rate that is still very low, estimated at less than 1%.

With more than 600 clients, Barclay Vouchers, the only player in the Japanese market for meal vouchers, generated 2011 issue volume of approximately EUR100m. The acquisition gives Edenred direct access to a nationwide network of over 30,000 affiliates.

“With this transaction, Edenred has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening its presence in the Asia-Pacific region, which is a strategic growth territory, especially in terms of geographic development,” said Laurent Pellet, Chief Operating Officer, Edenred Asia-Pacific. “In view of this challenge, Laurent Gachet, previously Chief Financial Officer, Edenred Brazil, has been chosen to head our operations in Japan. His mission is to develop our solutions in a local market that still has a low penetration rate.”

About Edenred

Edenred, which invented the Ticket Restaurant® meal voucher and is the world leader in prepaid corporate services, designs and delivers solutions that make employees’ lives easier and improve the efficiency of organizations. Edenred solutions ensure that funds allocated by companies are used as intended. These solutions help to manage:

• Employee benefits (Ticket Restaurant®, Ticket Alimentación, Ticket CESU, Childcare Vouchers, etc.).
• Expense management process (Ticket Car, Ticket Clean Way, Ticket Frete, etc.)
• Incentive and rewards programs (Ticket Compliments, Ticket Kadéos, etc.).

The Group also supports public institutions in managing their social programs.
Listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris stock exchange, Edenred operates in 39 countries, with some 6,000 employees, nearly 580,000 companies and public sector clients, 1.3 million affiliated merchants and 36.2 million beneficiaries. In 2011, total issue volume amounted to ?15.2 billion, of which 58% was generated in emerging markets.

Ticket Restaurant® and all other tradenames of Edenred products and services are registered trademarks of Edenred SA.

About BDA

Business Development Asia LLC (“BDA”) is a leader in cross-border investment banking.  BDA advises on M&A, capital raising, and restructuring.  BDA has been consistently owned and managed by the same team since 1996, and has built a track record of providing independent advice to blue-chip corporate and financial sponsor clients from North America, Europe and Asia.  BDA was named Investment Banking Firm of the Year by The M&A Advisor in December 2010.  BDA is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Bahrain, Mumbai, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Tokyo.  For further information, please see www.bdapartners.com.

For more information regarding this transaction, please contact Andy Huntley in London on (44) 20 7182 4518 or Jeff Acton in Tokyo on (81) 3 3433 5803.