Eurazeo announced the final closing of its Eurazeo Capital V program (“EC-V”) with c. €3 billion in aggregate commitments, surpassing its target size. The successful fund raising for EC-V is an important milestone for Eurazeo mid-large buyout strategy (“MLBO”). This step underlines the confidence of investors in MLBO’s strategy and performance, based on the continuous support for leading companies in the mid-market with global ambitions.
MLBO is strategically positioned to be the partner of choice for mid-market champions across three fast-growing sectors: Tech-Enabled Business Services, Financial Services, and Healthcare & Life Sciences. By leveraging deep sector expertise and global Eurazeo resources, we partner with leading mid-market businesses capable of transformational growth and foster value creation initiatives – support to external growth, sectorial and international expansion and strengthening of operational excellence. EC-V’s geographic focus spans Europe and North America and targets businesses in the middle and upper-middle market, with direct equity investments expected to range between €200 million to €350 million. In addition, the Fund offers systematic co-investment opportunities to its partners.
Proven performance and Investor confidence
With a c. €3 billion commitments, the Fund surpassed its target size as well as the size of its predecessor fund. In addition to Eurazeo’s own commitment, Limited partners in the Fund include leading insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, banks, pension funds, asset managers, family offices and other private investors from around the world. In addition, the MLBO team committed over €50 million into the Fund.
Investors’ confidence in the strategy stemmed from the strong realizations of MLBO’s predecessor mid-market fund (EC-IV). Including the pending closing of Albingia, a French insurance specialist, 50% of the EC-IV portfolio companies have been exited, leading to very strong performance and best in class Distributions to Paid-In (DPI) for investors. This track record is a testament to the team’s ability to execute on value creation plans for organic and inorganic growth to maximize strategic appeal at exit.
The same strategy is being applied to the deployment of EC-V, which has already delivered strong new investment activity across its three verticals. With nearly 50% deployment, EC-V has completed or announced six transactions in category-leading mid-market businesses.
The Fund recently announced the signing of the Spanish company Mapal, a leading back-of-house software provider for the food service and hospitality market. Other recent investments include Eres, the leading French independent player in the advisory and structuring of employee profit sharing plans and retirement schemes, as well as BMS, a leading independent speciality insurance broker in the UK and US. These deals complement other EC-V investments: Cranial Technologie, worldwide leader in plagiocephaly treatments, Sevetys, a leading French veterinary clinic group, and Scaled Agile, the reference method in business agility.
MLBO is managed by a talented team of nearly 30 investment professionals across Paris, London, Milan and New York, supported by operating resources across the Eurazeo platform. MLBO team relies on a strong partnership model, with a highly experienced team of seven senior professionals committed to delivering sustainable growth and value for investors.
Maxime de Bentzmann, Antonin de Margerie & Eric Sondag, Managing Partners, Co-Heads Mid-large buyout, commented:
"The closing of EC-V at €3 billion is a testament to the relevance of our strategy and the confidence of our investors. We are greatly appreciative of their strong support. Our investment approach allows us to identify and scale mid-market leaders with solid strategic interest. EC-V enables us to support businesses in three high-growth sectors, providing the resources, the expertise and the global reach typically reserved for large-cap firms. This Fund is a continuation of our commitment to shaping the future of companies we invest in and accelerating value creation for both our portfolio companies and our investors.”
