Capzanine continues to grow
Capzanine Group in numbers
- €2.4 Bn assets*
- 44 people**
- France, Germany, Spain
- 182 investments since 2004
- €723m invested in 2018
- 28 companies financed in 2018
Capzanine seized the opportunity of its Annual General Investor Meeting on March 28th, 2019, to reflect on the past 12 months and to prepare for 2019. Over the last few months, an intense investment program, a (currently underway) capital increase and a series of key appointments to front office and cross-functional positions were carried out.
A period of acceleration for Capzanine, 2019 will also be rich in new projects driven by developments on the private equity and private debt markets.
Christophe Karvelis-Senn, President and Co-Founder of Capzanine, explains: “Capzanine has developed a unique platform providing small and mid-cap companies with 4 kinds of expertise in flexible financing solutions. 2018 once again displayed the strong commitment of all the teams. We have continued to foster innovation to offer entrepreneurs solutions tailored to their development needs, and investors access to an alternative asset class benefitting from attractive and decorrelated performance drivers.”
Laurent Bénard, Managing Partner at Capzanine, adds: “We begin 2019 full of enthusiasm and determination. Our ambition is to continue the acceleration of our development in France and Europe, with new fundraising, maintaining our momentum in terms of investment and further strengthening of our infrastructure.”
Strong investment activities
In 2018, the Capzanine Group deployed nearly €723 million through its various strategies and contributed to the financing of 28 companies.
The Private Debt team has realised more than 10 investments, including one in Germany and another in Spain. More than half the deals are in the high-value tech sector (strategic B2B software). The team favours proprietary transactions (nearly 60% of the last fund’s portfolio) completed either through repeat transactions or via proprietary sources which allow for advantageous terms.
The Flex Equity team carried out 8 investments, including two in Spain and one in Italy. Recent acquisitions include Ivnosys in Spain and Intescia in France, illustrating Capzanine’s excellent track record in the Growth Tech sector with more than 25 tech deals since 2004. The Flex Equity strategy combines majority and minority equity, convertible bonds and mezzanine debt to support their SME with an EBITDA of less than €10 million in their development projects. The last fund posted nearly 70% of primary deals.
An ongoing capital increase and a strengthened relationship with AXA
Privileged partner of Capzanine since 2005, the AXA group will increase its equity stake in Capzanine to 46% in April through the repurchase of Eurazeo shares and a capital increase. On this occasion, Capzanine will open its capital to more than twenty employees. This transaction empowers Capzanine in the long term, particularly its ability to develop internationally. Capzanine and AXA IM have also entered a private debt distribution partnership, thus connecting Capzanine with international investors and leveraging the experience of AXA IM’s local sales teams.
A strong dynamic in recruitment
With a dozen new hires in 2018, a growth of nearly a third of its teams, Capzanine continues on the one hand to develop its investment team in Paris and Germany and on the other hand to strengthen its transverse functions. The management company has appointed Céline Gainet as General Counsel and Gwenaëlle Boucly as Head of Marketing; both are members of the Executive Committee, the committee in charge of steering and implementing Capzanine’s strategy. Capzanine has also announced the arrival in May of Renaud Tourmente as Head of Business Development. Bruno Bonnin, who joined Capzanine in 2009, has been promoted as a Partner.
9 appointments in 2018
Front office team
- Axel Augustin, Associate, Paris
- Arnaud Carbonne, Associate, Paris
- Steffen Müller, Associate, Munich
- Cédric Sabbah, Associate, Paris
Cross functional team
- Lucie Besset, Investor Relations and Marketing Associate
- Gwenaëlle Boucly, Head of Marketing
- Céline Gainet, General Counsel
- Caroline Karpiel, Head of Communication
- Benjamin Rogier, Financial Controller
Promotions Capzanine 2019
- Sabine Barral is promoted Senior Associate
- Bruno Bonnin is promoted Partner
- Clément Colin is promoted Principal
- Emmanuel Fournial is promoted Senior Associate
- Thomas Lafougère is promoted Senior Associate
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