Profile
An involved shareholder working with business owners
Crédit Agricole Private Equity is the Crédit Agricole group's private equity arm. Its team of 95 professionals supports companies at all stages of their growth and expansion, from start-up right through to sale, in a long-term relationship of mutual trust and proximity.
As the leading equity investor in French SMEs, Crédit Agricole Private Equity works on a daily basis to support 180 businesses and infrastructure projects.
Crédit Agricole Private Equity’s strength lies in the diversity of its multi-specialist model, its positioning among SMEs and the quality of its deal flow, as well as the solidity of its portfolio and its unconditional commitment to supporting business owners. The Crédit Agricole Group supports the development of Crédit Agricole Private Equity by sponsoring its funds.
All areas of private equity
Our teams specialise in a range of segments and business areas:
• LBOs & Expansion: seeking growth projects and acquisition financing opportunities in all types of buy-out/buy-in deals
• Venture Capital: supporting the development of innovative young companies (financing start-ups and innovative projects) in the technology and life sciences sectors
• Mezzanine: providing mezzanine and quasi-equity financing
• Renewable Energy: first institutional fund dedicated to renewable energy and energy efficiency
• PPP Infrastructures: providing equity investment in projects funded through public-private partnership contracts in transport, social infrastructure and the environment
• Co-Investment: acquiring minority stakes in buyouts alongside European and American funds
In addition, Exitis is our partner to offer investors liquidity solutions for their illiquid, deteriorated or conflictual investments.
Collegial governance
As an AMF-accredited asset management company with a Supervisory Board and a Management Board, Crédit Agricole Private Equity has a rigorous and transparent corporate governance system.
The backing of the Crédit Agricole Group, along with the company’s independent management, ensures sustainability and independence for subscribers.
Autonomy
Crédit Agricole Private Equity is a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole S.A., its sole shareholder. It benefits from the status of a third-party portfolio management company, giving it full independence in the management of its everyday activities. With its own in-house support teams (business support, risk management, compliance, legal, finance and accounting), it covers all aspects of asset management procedures and operates within a clear framework, ensuring that conflicts of interest are avoided. Its approach is accredited by the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF).
Compliance and risk management
In order to guarantee subscribers the reliability, confidentiality, fairness and solidity of all of its activities, Crédit Agricole Private Equity has two separate and complementary control functions. A compliance officer is responsible for monitoring the execution of orders in accordance with rules governing the profession and identifies potential conflicts of interest. And an investment risk manager works with operating staff during the early stages to validate the relevance of their decisions, and during the later stages to guarantee best practices in value creation.
Collegiality
As a measure of transparency and optimum risk control, collegiality governs all decisions relating to new investments and asset sales. Each case is analysed, assessed and verified on a collective basis within the various committees: the “team forum”, which brings together employees from each business line every week, analyses investment opportunities, monitors investments and plans asset sales; the investment committee, comprising the Chairman of the Management Board, the heads of the business lines concerned and investment directors, decides on investments and asset sales; and lastly the portfolio value-enhancement process, aligned with market best practices and overseen by the Management Board, follows the same collegiality-based logic within its dedicated committees.
