Ardian closes fifth fund at €2bn

Paris-based private investment house Ardian announced the latest fundraise for its Expansion fund, as investor interest in European high-growth mid-sized companies continues. The firm raised €2 billion ($2.4 billion) for Ardian Expansion Fund V. The firm said it has doubled the size of its previous fund in only six months. And despite the challenging backdrop of COVID-19 there seems to be a continued interest in backing what Ardian said are ‘ambitious management teams of high-growth, mid-sized businesses. The new fund’s investor base is diverse and globe. Roughly half of the fund’s investors are from previous fund offerings, while more than one-third are new to Ardian. The fund expanded its geographic reach officials said by reaching new investors in Asia and the Middle East. Several of the managers of Ardian’s Expansion’s portfolio companies also made commitments, which total nearly 5% of the fund. “Doubling the size of the previous generation in six months demonstrates the success of our strategy and the quality of our financial performance,” said François Jerphagnon, head of Ardian Expansion. “This success also underpins the interest in the investment philosophy we have built over the last 20 years: to focus on developing strong relationships with experienced and dedicated management teams, leveraging the Ardian’s network to fasten value creation for all stakeholders.” Jerphagnon’s 27-strong team is spread across Europe with offices in Paris, Frankfurt, Milan and Luxembourg. Historically, the firm’s portfolio companies have achieved 10% organic growth historically and via external growth, while enhancing the companies’ strategic value by accelerating their transformation plans. The team is able to take either minority or majority stakes. Ardian’s unique philosophy post investment is to support management via building digital and a sustainability transformation plan. Ardian has backed both digital transformation aims, such as at Diam and CCC, as well as more established digital native players such as CLS and Berlin Brands Group. The $100 billion Ardian and the Expansion team distributes part of its capital gain to all employees of its portfolio companies at exit. So far nearly 15 portfolio companies have benefited from the value sharing initiative since it was instituted more than a decade ago. In 2020, the team has maintained an active investment pace. The fund already deployed at 10% with to investments since May – Swissbit and Finaxy. Signed during lockdown, Swissbit is a Swiss provider of NAND flash-based storage and embedded IoT solutions for niche applications. The Finaxy deal was done in July and the company is a leading French multi-specialist insurance broker with a strong track record of organic and external growth.

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