Matthieu Favas
Matthieu Favas is the editor of Agri Investor. He was previously the web editor of Infrastructure Investor, where he started in 2013 after a year as a reporter at Private Equity International. Prior to joining PEI he spent four years in the wine industry in London, Spain and Mongolia.
The French venture firm has sold the cross-channel marketing business to Adobe for €600m, having provided three rounds of funding over an 11-year period.
The firm, which plans to top its Fund II with £250m over the next few weeks, has distributed £26.5m from its first vehicle back to investors since the beginning of the year.
Open debt markets have allowed PE-backed companies to refinance £7.6bn worth of loans so far this year, according to fresh research, in a period that has also seen a marked revival of the IPO market.
Investors believe private equity has proven its concept, according to Coller’s latest LP survey. But hostility to the asset class may now be coming from unexpected quarters.
Large US pensions aren’t the only ones keen on multi-asset class separate accounts – as illustrated by the mandates recently won by LGT.
Fundraising continues to be difficult for European venture funds. But one French GP hopes to race ahead of the peloton with a novel investment thesis, writes Matthieu Favas
As sponsors seek fresh liquidity to refinance or recapitalise portfolio companies, leveraged loans are losing ground to capital markets, the rating agency said at a conference this week.
The deal marks the sixth corporate carve-out sponsored by the UK turnaround specialist, which raised £220 million for its third fund in 2011.
The Jon Moulton-led firm, whose Fund II is two-thirds committed, is planning to issue new shares in the coming months.
The French GP has sold the internet and telephony business to Altice, a telecom-focused investor, after just two years of ownership.