China Merchant Bank (CMB), CIIC, and Shanghai Shentong Metro are the first Chinese partners to have expressed an interest in investing in Idinvest Partners’ Chance investment platform, which is dedicated to direct Chinese in European SMEs.
Idinvest has also entered discussions with several Chinese banks, insurers and investment funds. The initial closing round of approximately EUR300 million is scheduled for the end of 2015.
Idinvest Partners signed the operational launch of the Chance investment platform on 2 July 2015, during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to France. The signing ceremony was held in Toulouse (southern France) and was attended by both the Chinese Premier and the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
Chance is an investment program spearheaded by Idinvest Partners to accelerate the growth of French and European SMEs by offering them the support of Chinese capital and privileged access to Chinese markets.
Idinvest Partners, an expert in European SME growth finance, will be responsible for selecting the companies that will receive investments. SMEs financed by the Chance program are aiming to accelerate their footprint and grow faster in China. To do this, they will also receive the operational support of Idinvest Partners and its Chinese partners.
The program will be built around the priority sectors for Sino-French cooperation which were detailed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during his speech Toulouse also attended by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls: climate change, smart city, agricultural technology, food safety, internet technologies and general innovation.
The Chance investment program – the name is a contraction of China and France – aims to create between 2,000 and 3,000 direct jobs in France and in Europe through the SMEs companies it will fund. In addition, a sister investment program will be set up in China to stir job creation in the Mainland.
