Bpifrance wants to continue investing in large French companies. The public bank will launch its second “French-style sovereign fund” in the coming months. Its CEO, Nicolas Dufourcq, returns to the campaign to raise funds from French and foreign investors. He traveled to Saudi Arabia this week to begin laying the groundwork.
He will then travel to Abu Dhabi in January. The emirate’s sovereign fund, Mubadala, had already invested one billion euros in the first fund, called “Lac” and launched in 2019. Bpifrance will also turn to the sovereign funds of Qatar and Kuwait.
Because French investors will not be enough. Even if French insurers returned to the pot after having already invested 1.5 billion euros in the first fund. The great French fortunes such as the Dassaults, the Gervoson family – owners of Andros – and the owners of Bel, will also be summoned again. Bpifrance will also try to reunite the very rich Saudi Olayan family.
Objectives in the agri-food sector
This new fund will weigh around 5 billion euros and will be operational from 2026. Next year, Bpifrance must invest the last billion euros of the first fund that has already invested 4.2 billion euros. His first notable investments were in Arkema and especially in Essilorluxottica (1.5%), whose power, at that time, was shifting towards Italy. The public bank is now part of the board of directors to “anchor the group in France”, explains a source.
Bpifrance subsequently acquired 5% minority stakes in Spie, Seb, Elis and, most recently, Ipsos. His investments in Alstom and Worldline were less successful because they suffered from falling share prices.
The public bank also wants this second fund to invest in companies that are not listed on the stock market. It is aimed in particular at family businesses where successions are delicate. It seems that some cases have been identified in the agri-food sector, which is sensitive for France.
Source: BFM TV
