Théolaur acquires Hamelin Décor: a court-approved takeover of a century-old paint merchant

Théodore, the 200-year-old family paint group behind the acquisition

Founded 200 years ago in northern France and based in Noyelles-lès-Seclin, near Lille, the family business — jointly run by Laurent Letort and Hugo Robardey, who represents the fourth generation — combines both sides of the paint trade: manufacturing, through Théolaur Peintures and its two production sites, and distribution, through the Théodore Maison de Peinture chain. Privately held, the group generated EUR 110m in revenue in 2024 with 430 employees, and in 2025 it celebrates its bicentenary by taking the name Groupe Théodore. Its growth strategy combines territorial coverage with diversification: after the Monsieur Peinture services platform acquired from Cromology in 2024, the acquisition of Hamelin Décor densifies the chain's network — now 83 points of sale — as part of the Vision 2030 plan.

Hamelin Décor, a century-old paint merchant in the Yonne

Based in the Yonne département in Burgundy, Hamelin Décor is a century-old family business with a dual activity: as the manufacturer and distributor of Peintures Onip, it specialises in distributing paints, wall and floor coverings and equipment to building trade professionals and private customers. What sets it apart is its regional coverage: five branches in Auxerre, Dijon, Orléans, Sens and Troyes — spanning the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Grand Est and Centre-Val de Loire regions — for published revenue of EUR 7m in 2024. Its course changed at the end of 2024: placed in judicial reorganisation (redressement judiciaire) in early December by the Auxerre Commercial Court, the company saw the Théodore group's takeover offer approved by the court at the end of February, with the deal taking effect on 20 February 2025 — its branches joining the Théodore Maison de Peinture chain, which continues the business.

What the press said about the Hamelin Décor takeover

The takeover, effective 20 February 2025, was covered by the national business press, the regional business press and the building trade press (articles in French):

Why this court-approved takeover, and why this target

For the Théodore group, the rationale is coverage: in the paint merchant trade, proximity drives loyalty — professional decorators buy from the branch they know — and the Théodore Maison de Peinture chain builds its growth by densifying its territorial coverage, region by region. Hamelin Décor's five branches bring it the Centre-East in a single move — the Yonne, Côte-d'Or, Loiret and Aube départements — an area where the chain was not established, and take its network to 83 points of sale. “The integration of Hamelin Décor represents a tremendous opportunity for our group,” the chain's press release states — seeing it as a way to strengthen its market presence and broaden its range of products and services, fully in line with its growth ambitions.

On the target side, despite the proceedings, Hamelin Décor had fundamentals the trade values: a century of local roots — the loyalty of professional decorators cannot be decreed, it is inherited — five established businesses in locations where the buyer's chain was not present, and a rarity among independent merchants: its own manufactured brand, Peintures Onip, which adds a manufacturer's string to the network's bow. For a buyer that itself operates both businesses — manufacturing with Théolaur, distributing through its chain — the fit was complete: the branches densify coverage, the brand enriches the range, and the industrial plan of a 200-year-old family group gave the court the assurance of continuity that a takeover plan requires.

Paint distribution consolidates as the building sector comes under strain

This deal illustrates the reshaping of a traditional link in the building supply chain: independent paint merchants, a fabric of regional family businesses, are bearing the full brunt of the downturn in construction and renovation — costs, falling volumes, stretched cash positions — while integrated groups, backed by their own plants and national chains, keep expanding their coverage. Consolidation now runs as much through special situations as through orderly sales: insolvency proceedings are becoming a fully fledged route for business transfers, where a court-approved takeover preserves the operating assets, the businesses and the jobs that a liquidation would scatter.

This deal is a textbook example: a domestic consolidation that crosses France — from the Nord to the Yonne — and a century-old business whose activity continues within a group celebrating its 200th anniversary in the same year: two family histories that the proceedings bring together rather than set against each other. For the region, the takeover keeps five local branches open across three regions; for the industry, it keeps a French-made brand alive; for the buyer, it extends a strategy — after the Monsieur Peinture platform in 2024 — that makes external growth the engine of the Vision 2030 plan.

Collaboration Capital's added value as buy-side adviser on this takeover

On this deal, Collaboration Capital acted as buy-side adviser. A court-approved takeover in the paint merchant trade unfolds in four stages — and the insolvency proceedings impose their own timetable and rules on each of them.