Ardian raises €530m for 3rd generation of its growth platform

Paris/ Frank­furt a. M. — Ardian, one of the world’s leading inde­pen­dent invest­ment compa­nies, has raised EUR 530 million for the third gene­ra­tion of its growth plat­form, the Ardian Growth Fund III. In a chal­len­ging fund­rai­sing envi­ron­ment, the fund closed above the target figure of EUR 500 million, more than doubling the volume compared to its prede­ces­sor gene­ra­tion, which closed in 2018 with EUR 230 million.

The successful fund­rai­sing is the result of a clearly diver­si­fied LP base in terms of inves­tor type and global origin. In addi­tion, there was a high level of parti­ci­pa­tion from exis­ting inves­tors in the prede­ces­sor fund. The Ardian Growth Fund III recei­ved commit­ments from inves­tors in 12 count­ries, inclu­ding major banks and insu­rance compa­nies, entre­pre­neurs, pension funds and govern­ment insti­tu­ti­ons. The parti­ci­pa­tion of almost 120 entre­pre­neurs is parti­cu­lar proof of inves­tors’ confi­dence in the team and its ability to iden­tify high-quality invest­ments and successfully manage their growth.

Buil­ding on the expe­ri­ence gained in previous fund gene­ra­ti­ons, the Growth team will conti­nue to draw on its powerful sourcing network across conti­nen­tal Europe to iden­tify profi­ta­ble, fast-growing compa­nies. The fund will conti­nue to pursue a sector-focu­­sed invest­ment stra­tegy in the target indus­tries of the digi­tal economy (e.g. soft­ware, web and tech­­no­­logy-orien­­ted compa­nies), specia­li­zed B2B service provi­ders and compa­nies from the health and well­ness sector, parti­cu­larly those that bene­fit from the digi­tal trans­for­ma­tion and contri­bute to the disrup­tion of tradi­tio­nal value chains in their sector.

“Our approach has always been about more than provi­ding capi­tal: we work inten­si­vely with entre­pre­neurs to acce­le­rate their busi­ness growth, realize their ambi­ti­ons and expand their inter­na­tio­nal foot­print. The current market envi­ron­ment offers some of the most exci­ting oppor­tu­ni­ties for growth invest­ments in the past 20 years, espe­ci­ally given the scale and speed of digi­ta­liza­tion. Our team of experts brings world-class exper­tise and in-depth indus­try know­ledge to support manage­ment teams in their growth. We have alre­ady made three invest­ments from the fund and will make further invest­ments based on our unique sourcing capa­bi­li­ties to support compa­nies in the next phase of their growth,” said Alexis Saada, Head of Growth & Senior Mana­ger at ARDIAN.

The fund has alre­ady inves­ted around 25 percent of its capi­tal in three tran­sac­tions, inclu­ding Théra­dial, a leading provi­der of dialy­sis solu­ti­ons in its sector, My Pie, an inno­va­tive snack­ing concept, and Aprium Phar­macie, a phar­macy fran­chise company.

The fund complies with Article 8 of the EU Disclo­sure Regu­la­tion (SFDR) and inte­gra­tes sustaina­bi­lity aspects into its stra­tegy in order to create long-term value for all stakeholders.

The Ardian Growth team has more than 20 years of expe­ri­ence in inves­t­ing in the Euro­pean growth market and curr­ently consists of four part­ners in a team of 14 invest­ment profes­sio­nals. It mana­ges total assets of one billion euros and has supported more than 120 compa­nies since 1998.

About ARDIAN

Ardian is a leading global inde­pen­dent invest­ment firm. The company mana­ges or advi­ses assets tota­ling around US$ 164 billion for more than 1,600 inves­tors world­wide. Thanks to its exten­sive exper­tise in private equity, real assets and credit, Ardian offers a wide range of invest­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties as well as custo­mi­zed invest­ment solu­ti­ons — tail­o­red to inves­tors’ needs: Ardian Custo­mi­zed Solu­ti­ons enables insti­tu­tio­nal inves­tors to access best-in-class mana­gers across all asset clas­ses through a custo­mi­zed port­fo­lio. Ardian Private Wealth Solu­ti­ons also offers a range of services speci­fi­cally geared to high net worth indi­vi­du­als. Ardian’s employees are also the company’s largest share­hol­der group.

Ardian atta­ches great importance to their deve­lo­p­ment, as well as a culture of coope­ra­tion based on an active exch­ange of know­ledge and expe­ri­ence. The more than 1,050 employees at 19 office loca­ti­ons in Europe, North and South America, Asia and the Middle East follow the prin­ci­ples of respon­si­ble invest­ment. Ardian’s mission is to make a posi­tive contri­bu­tion to society through its invest­ments and to create value that lasts. Ardian aims to deli­ver excel­lent returns in line with high ethi­cal stan­dards and social respon­si­bi­lity. At Ardian, ever­yone is dedi­ca­ted to buil­ding successful compa­nies for the long term.

www.ardian.com