CAPZA, a leading private investment firm specialising in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has held the final closing of its CAPZA 5 Flex Equity Fund, reaching its revised hard cap at EUR700 million, doubling the final size of the previous Fund (EUR350 million).
CAPZA, a private investment firm specialising in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has held the final closing of its CAPZA 5 Flex Equity Fund, reaching its revised hard cap at EUR700 million, doubling the final size of the previous Fund (EUR350 million).
This success confirms investors’ interest in a flexible and agile investment strategy in resilient sectors. It reflects the renewed confidence of its historical investors (insurers, Funds of Funds, public institutions, pension funds, family offices) as well as the interest of new French and international investors.
This fifth vintage is leveraging CAPZA Flex Equity ‘s proven approach since 2004 which offers – as lead investor – flexible financing solutions combining majority or minority capital, convertible bonds and mezzanine. The Fund aims to support SMEs in their growth and buy-out projects in the lower mid-cap segment in France, Spain, Germany and Italy.
CAPZA Flex Equity’s teams have demonstrated an ability to efficiently deploy capital and achieve a constant pace of divestment over the previous vintages. Close to entrepreneurs, they offer tailor-made equity solutions adapted to the company’s project.
Since 2004, the CAPZA Flex Equity teams have led nearly 80 transactions combining equity and mezzanine with an average multiple of 1.97x on completed transactions. The CAPZA 5 Flex Equity fund, which began its investment period in September 2020, has performed six transactions and is already 21 per cent invested:
- IMF Business Schools (e-learning, Spain)
- Ynov Campus (higher education in IT and digital technology, France)
- Magellan Partners (digital transformation consulting, France)
- Winncare (healthcare, France)
- MT systems (B2B services, France)
- Eidos Media (CMS – Content Management System SaaS, Italy)
“We are confident about the prospects of this new Fund in the current economic environment. Its hybrid model allows us to be agile by investing in equity and/or mezzanine, and in companies in resilient sectors on a European scale,” says Maxence Radix, Co-Head Flex Equity France CAPZA.
“Our tailor-made strategy aims to adapt to the needs identified by shareholders and management to best support the company’s growth and meet related challenges,” adds Benoit Choppin, Co-Head Flex Equity France CAPZA.
“We are pleased with the loyalty of our current investors who have reinvested at more than 100 per cent, and to welcome new investors as well. With the success of this fundraising and now four strategies focused on equity investments (Flex Equity, Expansion, Growth Tech, Transition), CAPZA is positioning itself as a real player in private equity and wishes to reinforce this strategy in the coming years,” concludes Christophe Karvelis-Senn, Executive Chairman CAPZA.
