Brexit vote helps private equity giant raise €4.5bn for mid-cap fund targeting continental Europe
Private equity giant Ardian has announced the launch of a new fund worth €4.5bn (£3.8bn), with fundraising thought to have been boosted by Brexit.
Paris-based Ardian’s LBO VI is the biggest European mid-cap fund of 2016 and was raised in four months.
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Ardian believes the fundraising was helped by investors wanting to target continental Europe after the EU referendum.
The fund has already made two investments, in France-based food hygiene company Hypred and Italian clinical health software provider Dedalus.
It will be targeting companies valued at between €175m to €1.5bn, with 85 per cent of investments expected to be in France, Italy, Germany, Benelux, Austria and Switzerland. The team will also look for opportunities in the UK and Spain.
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Philippe Poletti, head of Ardian Mid Cap Buyout, said:
This fundraising success demonstrates the value our investors have seen in our approach of using transformational strategies to help ambitious companies accelerate their international growth.
Together with our multi-local network, this gives us a unique proposition with both potential investee companies, as well with our investors across the globe who are able to access different European markets through a single partner.