Paris (France), February 27, 2020 – Management company Andera Partners, a leading player in unlisted investment in France and abroad, today announced the results of its activities for 2019. It was a record year in terms of both deployment (€400 million invested) and liquidity (€463 million in sale proceeds), reflecting an active strategy of rapid transformation of the portfolio companies.
The Andera Partners teams deployed nearly €400 million in equity and mezzanine financing last year in 20 new investments and with the 25 companies in the portfolio.
In terms of liquidity, the 24 disposals completed during the year generated €463 million in income. This cash momentum reflects the change in scale of the SMEs/mid-caps partnered by Andera. Its teams act with the management teams on all the value creation levers, in particular human capital (31 recruitments to the Executive Committee/Management Committee within companies supported by Winch and Cabestan), acquisitions (44 build-ups carried out in 2019 by companies supported by Winch, Cabestan and ActoMezz) and internationalisation (1 build-up out of 2 carried out by companies supported by Winch was abroad). The highlights of the BioDiscovery team’s activity in 2019 featured the approval of a medical device in the United States, the initiation of 12 advanced phase clinical trials (Phase 2 and 3), the achievement of results for 7 advanced clinical programmes and early clinical development (Phase 1) for 4 programmes
- ActoMezz, the franchise specialising in small and mid-cap sponsorless mezzanine investments, carried out 12 transactions last year, of which 7 investments (Sylpa, Opportunity, Travelsoft, Ellisphere, Tournus Equipement, Passman and Lease Protect) and 5 exits (Ludendo, Stella- La Toulousaine, Passman, MS Vacances and HJV).
- BioDiscovery, the team specialising in Life Sciences, participated last year in two of the sector’s largest transactions in Europe. The team was lead investor, alongside the LSP fund, in the $133 million financing round of the Dutch company AM-Pharma, and also participated in the $207 million financing round of the Swiss company Arvelle Therapeutics alongside several European and US funds. The team also made two other investments (Exciva and Agomab) and was very active in public markets, with a number of disposals.
- Cabestan Capital, the private equity management company focused on French SMEs, completed 2 majority investments (Olaqin and 99 Group) and 6 disposals (Chabé, Snadec, TravelSoft, Europnet, Erget and Moving) with an average M.O.I of 2.2X and half of those companies having doubled in size. At the same time Cabestan rounded out its offering with the announcement of the first closing – for €60 million – of its new micro-cap SME fund, Cabestan Croissance. Aiming ultimately to raise €80 million, Cabestan Croissance will invest amounts of €2 million to €5 million in French SMEs with revenue of less than €30 million.
- WINCH Capital, dedicated to mid-cap private equity, completed 6 investments (Auxiga, Mastergrid, Spherea, Infra Group, HR Path and Scalian) and 9 disposals (OCEA, Intescia, Finsecur, NetCo, Bacacier, Star Service, Groupe Rougnon, Maesa and Scalian) with and average M.O.I. over 3.0x and 2/3 of these companies having more than doubled in size during their partnership with the WINCH Capital team
Andera Partners: a partner for sound and sustainable growth
Over more than 25 years, our teams have helped upscale nearly 250 companies in France, Europe and North America. At the end of 2019, Andera Partners was supporting the managers of 93 companies, for combined revenue of more than €6 billion and EBITDA of around €700 million. In addition to financial growth, Andera Partners’ teams also encourage the development of healthy and sustainable growth, in particular through the portfolio companies’ social footprint. Thus, for the companies partnered by Andera Partners, 2019 featured:
- 35,000 employees
- 684 job creations
- 498 employee shareholders
Andera Partners: a dynamic and responsible management company committed to sustainable growth
“2019 confirmed the excellent momentum that Andera Partners’ activities are enjoying across the board – a trend that can be seen both in our investments and exits and in our ever-strengthening ties with the growing number of institutional investors, particularly in Europe, who wish to support our development projects,” commented Andera’s managing partners Stéphane Bergez and Pierre-Yves Poirier.
At the corporate level, Andera Partners turbocharged its teams with around 15 new hires and ten promotions. The company had 68 employees on 31 December 2019, including a 47-strong investment team, 16 of whom are partners. In October 2019, Andera Partners also initiated a partnership with Hans Van de Velde, Belgian Senior Advisor, to develop its activities in Belgium.
In addition to its financial operations, Andera Partners took a decisive step in its approach to combating climate change by obtaining CO2-neutral® accreditation and becoming a signatory of IC20, France Invest’s 2020 Climate Initiative.
Outlook for 2020
While 2020 promises to be just as busy on the transaction front, it will also see a reinjection of funds into BioDiscovery 6, ActoMezz 4 and Cabestan 3, in addition to Cabestan Croissance’s final closing.