Ardian (company)

History

Originally a subsidiary of AXA, the company operated under the name AXA Private Equity until 2013, when the firm achieved independent status and was renamed to Ardian.

In 1996, Claude Bébéar, founder and former AXA CEO, tasked Dominique Senequier with the creation of a private equity entity at AXA. Based in Paris, AXA Private Equity started off with 10 clients and 100 million euros worth of assets. The first investment took place in 1998 in the GSI Banque company Linedata.

In 1999, the opened offices in London and New York. That same year, it launched its Funds of Funds investment strategy.

In 2001, the company entered the German market by opening an office in Frankfurt.

In 2005, Ardian opened an office in Singapore and entered the Asian market. The same year, the company launched its Infrastructure investment strategy.

As a result of the 2007 financial crisis, the company postponed all new operations and instead focused on the management of its portfolio, in an effort to shield its companies from the effects of the crisis.

In 2008, Dominique Senequier insisted on distributing a higher percentage of the company's capital gains to the employees of the companies in Ardian's portfolio.

In 2009, Ardian acquired 100% of Kallista, a French company specialized in the production of renewable energies. Ardian then invested heavily in transports, energy, water supply and waste management. €2.5 billion were invested in infrastructure systems between 2005 and 2014.

The same year Ardian adopted the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) implemented by the UNPRI and published its CSR Charter.

In 2010, during the increased activity in the private equity secondary market, Ardian acquired a US $1.9 billion private equity portfolio from Bank of America and a US $900 million portfolio from Natixis.

In 2012, the company opened an office in Beijing in order to invest on the Chinese market.

On 30 September 2013, AXA Private Equity announced that it had completed its spin-off from the AXA Group and renamed the firm Ardian. Per the terms of the deal, AXA Group retained ownership of 23% of the firm, management and employees owned 46%, and the remaining 31% was held by French family offices and institutions. Currently, 85% of employees are shareholders.

In 2013, Private Equity International ranked Ardian in the largest private equity firms by PE capital raised and named it Company of the Year 2013 in France.

On 2 September 2015, Ardian opened an office in Madrid, Spain.

On 7 September 2015, Ardian announced the launch of Ardian Real Estate, dedicated to investment in non-residential properties in Europe.

On 7 October 2015, Ardian opened an office in San Francisco, USA.

Activities

The company operates on five business segments:

• Funds of funds, which manages approximately $36 billion of assets focusing on primary, early secondary and secondary Funds of Funds.

• Direct funds, which manages approximately $9 billion.

• Infrastructure, which manages approximately $7 billion.

• Private debt, which manages approximately $3 billion.

• Real Estate, launched September 2015.

Funds of funds

The fund of funds business segment at Ardian was launched in 1998 and now manages $36 billion of assets.

Funds of Funds include primaries, early secondaries and secondaries. Ardian has completed an important range of transactions in these fields, including the purchase of fund portfolios from Bank of America and GE Capital.

Between 2012 and 2014, Ardian deployed $7 billion into Fund of Funds transactions.

In 2014, Ardian has deployed more than US $10 billion in secondary transactions.

Direct funds

The direct funds segment at Ardian manages approximately $9 billion of assets. It is organized into four activities:

• Mid Cap Buyout (which invests in companies with values ranging from €150 million to €1.5 billion).

• Expansion (which invests in companies valued at less than €150 million).

• Co-Investment (an activity that began in 2005, when large buyout transactions require a strategic partnership).

• Ardian Growth (which focuses on small and medium businesses — from €2 million to €10 million — that can achieve organic growth and have the potential to expand internationally).

Infrastructure

The infrastructure segment at Ardian manages approximately $7 billion of assets. It includes investments in water, gas and electricity grids, toll roads and renewable energies.

Ardian's third infrastructure fund closed at €1.75 billion (including co-investments) of which 45% is already invested, notably through the acquisition of the London Luton Airport, the fourth-largest airport serving the London area, and of Vinci Park, specialized in construction, financing and operation of car parks in 14 countries around the world.

Ardian's fourth generation of infrastructure fund was closed in January 2016 at €2.65 billion.

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Private debt

The private debt segment at Ardian was launched in 2005 and manages approximately $3 billion worth of assets. Ardian has completed 8 unitranche lending deals that range from €40 million to €275 million.

Since 2010, Ardian has provided, on average, €500 million financing per year.

In 2014, the private debt team provided €255 million subordinated financing for Ceva Santé Animale, as well as a £40 million unitranche financing facility to EAT.

In September 2015, Ardian closed its third generation of private debt fund of €2 billion.

Real Estate

Ardian Real Estate was launched in September 2015 under the management of Bertrand Julien-Laferrière. Its goal is to invest in commercial and non-residential real estate assets in continental Europe, starting with France, Italy and Germany.

Governance and management

Ardian was founded and is managed by Dominique Senequier, who was one of the first seven women admitted to the French Ecole Polytechnique in France in 1972.

The management team also includes:

• Vincent Gombault, head of Ardian’s Funds of Funds and Private Debt

• Dominique Gaillard, head of Ardian's Direct Funds

• Benoît Verbrugghe, head of Ardian USA

• Mathias Burghardt, head of Ardian Infrastructure

• Olivier Decannière, head of Ardian UK

• Jérémie Delecourt, Corporate and International Development

• Philippe Poletti, head of Ardian Mid Cap Buyout

Key figures

• $55 billion of assets (managed or advised)

• 130 companies in the direct funds portfolio

• 410 employees (2015)

• 12 offices (Northern America, Europe and Asia)

• $11 billion raised in 2014

• 85% of the employees are shareholders and hold, together, 52% of the company's capital.

Direct Funds, Infrastructure and Private Debt

In 2015, Ardian has more than 130 companies in its current direct portfolio through its different activities.

Funds of Funds

In 2015, Ardian Funds of Funds' portfolio has about 1,200 funds with 10,000 underlying companies.