Wanao Sendao

WANAO & SENDAO join the EXPLORE Group

• OCTOBER 22, 2021

Wanao & Sendao join the EXPLORE Group to together form the leading French player in solutions for monitoring calls for tender, and managing and filing responses to public procurement contracts. This marks the EXPLORE Group's ^4th acquisition, since Activa Capital's entry as part of a primary LBO concluded in January 2019, aimed at consolidating its expertise and offering of data / process solutions for companies responding to public procurement contracts.

Founded in 2001 by its current CEO, Stéphane Labadie, Wanao has developed within the French Tech Pays Basque, located in Bidart near Biarritz (64). Its public procurement monitoring and management tools are now in great demand by leading French and international companies. Wanao monitors all public tenders, whatever the source of publication, giving access to all announcements concerning works, supply or service contracts. Wanao has become one of the leading players in public procurement monitoring and management. Every year, nearly a thousand companies renew their trust in Wanao for their tender management.

The Sendao adventure began in 2009. This sister company, specialized in dematerialized response to calls for tender, represents a major technical breakthrough, unrivalled to this day. Sendao's service extends to the entire tender response process, from handling the entire response procedure to electronic signature and legal archiving.

The group represents a total of 40 employees at Wanao and Sendao, divided between Bidart and Boulogne-Billancourt. Some of the teams will shortly be joining EXPLORE at its Paris premises.

With this acquisition, EXPLORE completes its^4th external growth operation, since the entry of Activa Capital in January 2019. This transaction demonstrates the ability of Activa Capital, EXPLORE's reference shareholder, to support entrepreneurial managers in transforming growing SMEs and structuring external growth operations.

Laurent Nicouleau, Co-founder of Explore, is delighted with this merger: " The arrival of Wanao / Sendao within the EXPLORE Group makes us the leading player in the French market for intelligence and tender management solutions. We share the same high standards and the same level of commitment to our respective customers. Thanks to the complementarity of our expertise, the depth of our offerings and the diversity of our customer portfolio, we are able to offer an unrivalled range of solutions, and look forward to future developments, alongside the other companies in the Group."

Stéphane Labadie, founder of Wanao & Sendao, adds: " The merger with Groupe EXPLORE is an essential project for the development and growth of Wanao / Sendao. We are delighted to be joining a team with whom we share common human values. Our respective career paths, as well as the complementary nature of our services and our numerous innovation projects, will enable us to build real synergies for the future."

Alexandre Masson and Christophe Parier, Managing Partners of Activa Capital, add: " This new external growth operation for EXPLORE reflects our desire to support ambitious founders to help them accelerate their development. The combination of EXPLORE and Wanao / Sendao offers promising prospects for innovation and development for the Group's customers ".

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