The word refers to aeronautics so modern

It is a border which cuts the France into two. A little crooked, it part of Lille, crossing Paris, meanders through the Nièvre, the Massif central and Lozère linking Perpignan in Pyrénées-Orientales. The West of this line are the Picoty family petrol stations. To the East, those of the family Thevenin and Ducrot. In oil since the 1920s, each family manages its strictly independent fuel distribution undertaking. There is no purchase or logistics in common but the name of the stations is the same on both sides of the border: Avia. Under this name, the two groups have the third network of service stations in France, behind Total and Carrefour.

The two companies grow the discretion. But their earnings are measured by their success. Picoty made a turnover of EUR 1.6 billion in 2008, while Thevenin & Ducrot posted revenues of EUR 2.4 billion over the same period.

Under the leadership of these two families, the Avia network is Mount power in France. Between the months of November and June, 163 stations Shell will gradually move to the colours of the mark and added to 664 existing sites.

Picoty and Thevenin & Ducrot purchased these stations for about EUR 30 million in June 2009. "It is the largest network acquisition ever undertaken by the two companies," explains Michel Picoty, the CEO of the eponymous group. With the acquisition of Shell, Avia stations to acquire a good coverage of the territory and complete a deficient mesh in the North, the Ardennes, Brittany and Ile-de-France.

"As of the brothers".

But the process was not simple. The negotiations began in October 2008, to stop immediately. Contacted by Société Générale, the two families are not continued. No question of going through a banker. They intend to speak directly with Shell. Discussions actually began in March, when the Anglo-Dutch tanker sends a heavy weight of the seat. Shell is pressed. But it is hard to do. He should negotiate, not only the price of each station, but also the support for the costs of remediation if environmental diagnosis of the problem site. "In these cases, the invoice can sometimes exceed the million euros," explains Michel Picoty. The fate of the payment Shell card is also studied, as with this transaction, Shell will almost more than France motorway stations. The tanker, it is therefore essential that its payment card is recognized and accepted by the Avia network.

Picoty and Thevenin & Ducrot are not interested at all. The two groups do not redeem Corsican stations of Shell, for example, which are repeated by Ruby. "Corsica, I have a House and this is enough for me," smiled Michel Picoty. "It's a market that is mastered badly," said cautiously Jean-Michel Ducrot, CEO of Thevenin & Ducrot.

Negotiate a transaction to two is never easy but Michel Picoty and Jean-Michel Ducrot know more than thirty years. The two men did consider themselves not only "friends" but as "brothers". "When they negotiate, it's a mechanical well oiled, a kind of theatre", entrusts a professional.

This complicity does not preclude differences. The political sensitivity of the two patterns is not the same. One is positioned on the left, the other to the right. Their managerial choices are different. The Group Picoty uses subsidiaries to sell its oil while Thevenin & Ducrot is online. The first supplies oil on the Atlantic facade, the second on the Mediterranean. But cultures are identical. The two companies are both family and very attached to their roots. Picoty is installed in the underground, in the Creuse. Thevenin & Ducrot has its operational headquarters in Chevigny-Saint - Sauveur, near Dijon. "We claim our rural side, this is the origin of the company," explains Jean-Michel Ducrot. The two companies are born in the interwar period and have surfed on the development of petroleum products. Above all, the two patterns are one and the other viscerally attached to the independence of their company. "There is as to the Apple of our eyes", insists Michel Picoty. But comment out a ultraconcurrentiel market and declining, with giants like Carrefour, Leclerc and Total The Habs leader has nearly 4,700 stations on the French market under the brands Total, Elf and Elan. Carrefour provides him only supplies in addition to 1,200 sites.

"Their resistance surprised us."

To survive, the two companies know first simply reduced margins. In 2008, Thevenin & Ducrot reached a net result of EUR 5.6 million, for 2.4 billion in revenues. The two groups are then rather followers in their pricing policies, but they rely on proximity to the customer, loyalty and human values to differentiate. "Some clients - distributors of oil or managers of stations, Editor's note - do not hesitate to call us when they pass through a difficult period." "They are seeking a helping hand, a Council", says Michel Picoty. The two companies veulentêtre alternative to refiners and large distribution. Their weight also continues to amaze the profession. "Their resistance has pleasantly surprised us", recognizes a Total framework.

With the acquisition of the Shell, their brand, Avia stations will take a new step. The sign will foothold for the first time in Paris, déboulant prestigious sites like avenue Foch or the boulevard Haussmann. A symbol for a brand whose image is fuzzy or is associated with somewhat antiquated roadside stations. "There may be a difficulty to identify the Avia brand." Some clients believe that one is Swiss, French or even Italian well... ", acknowledges Jean Reinhardt, CEO of Avia France, the entity in charge of the brand in France.

In fact, Avia, it is both. Sign today brings together more than 80 societies on the Continent, all owners of the brand under which they operate. But she was born in Switzerland in 1927. At the time, several independent tanker come together to form an alternative to large international groups. They want a name simple and readable in all languages. The word refers to aeronautics, so modern. In the 1950s, the Avia logo will even display a propeller and a rocket.

The sign arrived in France in December 1950 and will count up to a dozen of member companies. With the rise of the Total and Elf networks in the 1970s and 1980s, the coverage of the sign is nevertheless reduced be shrinking. Succession problems grow some family companies to sell. Others fear that face serious problems of supply, at the end of an oil shock. In 1991, Avia has only two members in France: Picoty and Thevenin & Ducrot companies. The marriage of Elf and Total will give them the opportunity to acquire a new dimension.

Displayed ambitions

In 2001, the European Union forces the new group of fusion to sell part of its motorway stations. Opportunistic, Picoty and Thevenin & Ducrot redeem 21 sites. Apply appeals to a European Commission concerned about strengthening competition on French roads. Next comes the redemption, in 2003, a portion of the network of BP, and then two successive acquisitions of Shell stations in 2004 and 2006. The third operation, the redemption of the 163 Shell stations, just be saved this month by the DGCCRF.

But the two family groups do not intend to rest there. "We want to continue to strengthen us on the highways." "Gold, between 2010 and 2013, half of the subconcession Highway sites will be released game," said Jean-Michel Ducrot. Mindful of the future, two patterns are also preparing succession. The next generation of leaders of Picoty and Thevenin & Ducrot are already working in the company. It must be said that Avia has a great tool for this: the Avia junior meetings. Every three or four years, these leisure travel together for several days the children of the leaders of the Avia member companies to visit oil sites in Europe. This allows to discover the craft to these adolescents, or even to forge bonds of friendship between the future leaders of the Member companies. "Among the young, the tanker trade is not necessarily good reputation." "These meetings allow to offset these ideas," explains Mathias Schild, nephew of Michel Picoty. The next is scheduled for 2010. With this approach, Avia attempts to overcome the problems of succession, often fatal to family businesses. The system's function. In 1979, Michel Picoty was part. He had visited the petrochemical site of Grandpuits (Seine-et-Marne) on one of the earliest Avia Juniors. Today, it is at the head of the family business.