Our DNA
Sustainable value creation from strategic, financial & governance stewardship
a family-owned investment group with a long history of successful investing — guaranteeing:
a stable, reputable and well-connected shareholder base for our investee companies.
an entrepreneurial, proactive and flexible partner with a simple governance and decision-making process.
a powerful international reach through the different subsidiaries of our enlarged group.
We invest...
from our own balance sheet to accompany companies and management over the long-term to commit permanent capital so managers can define realistic objectives and benefit from sufficient time to deliver on their plans through industry and economic cycles.
We support...
a limited number of companies and reserve significant follow-on capital to fund their organic development and accelerate external growth through acquisitions.
We build...
lasting relationships with entrepreneurs, families and co-investors and act as an active industrial and financial partner to managers, acting as a sounding board without ever substituting ourselves to them in day-to-day operations.
We aim...
to perform our professional shareholder’s role to drive sustainable long-term value creation through a number of strategic, financial and organizational levers.
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Strategy formulation
We provide strong oversight and monitor the implementation of ambitious strategies that align the interests of management and shareholders, leveraging our experience and relationships to arbitrage assets, execute on investments and disposals, advise on international expansion and segment diversification…
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Financial engineering
We promote sound financial discipline to optimize the long-term profitability of capital made available by the shareholders and provide support and resources (acquisitions, operational efficiencies, financing arrangements negotiations) while imposing reasonable indebtedness on our investments so those have the ability to self-finance their development plans.
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Human capital
We play an active role in the governance bodies of our participations to select talented managers and strengthen teams as companies grow, motivate them through aligned incentives, and give them access to our Group’s broad network of partners and experts.
Investment criteria
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Strategic criteria
We invest in European industry leaders with international presence and recurring cash flows in sectors with high barriers to entry.
- Public and private companies
- European headquarters (BE/FR/DACH/IT)
- Sectors with high barriers to entry (know-how, technology, market share, ...)
- Existing or emerging leaders
- Resilient business model and the capacity to generate predictable and recurrent cash-flows
- Potential for long-term profitable growth (organically or through acquisitions)
- Significant or increasing presence in international markets undergoing rapid growth
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Financial criteria
We invest in the mid-market (100-300m€ equity for our share) with limited use of leverage.
- 100–300m€ equity for our share (with the ability to mobilize additional resources to support organic or external growth). We can invest smaller tickets with the guarantee of a quick build-up / add-on
- Reasonable use of leverage allowing companies to invest their cash-flows in profitable growth
- Generation of a return on capital employed exceeding the cost of capital
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Governance criteria
We invest for long-term partnerships with families and/or managements teams with control or joint-control.
- Association with families and/or management teams looking for long-term partnerships without maturity constraints
- Strong governance and management teams whose incentives are aligned with shareholders
- Control or joint-control “from the start” or “progressively”
- Minority shareholder subject to stringent liquidity rules and governance rules allowing us to play our role of active shareholder
