Eurazeo, a Parisian private investment firm, has closed its sixth direct lending fund at €2.3bn, surpassing the initial target of €2bn.
This success, along with an additional €900 million from retail investors, brings the total scale of Eurazeo’s Private Debt program to a significant €3.2 billion.
The substantial achievement showcases Eurazeo’s strategic prowess and consolidates its prominent position as a primary financier of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) across Europe.
The fund’s success is attributed to Eurazeo’s adept Private Debt team and the culmination of five prior fund generations. The firm has garnered continuous support from long-standing investors while attracting new ones, both domestically and internationally. Impressively, more than 70% of investors hail from Europe (outside France), Asia, North America, and Australia.
Eurazeo’s Private Debt program has already deployed over 70% of its resources. The recently closed Private Debt VI fund has invested in over 50 European companies operating in resilient, non-cyclical sectors such as business services, healthcare, specialized financial services, and information technology.
This milestone underscores the strategy’s significance, constituting over 20% of Eurazeo’s assets under management. The experienced international team, comprising over 20 investors, offers funding, predominantly senior debt but also subordinated, to European SMEs valued between €30m and €300m. Since its establishment in 2007, this team has facilitated financing for nearly 400 companies, amounting to a total commitment of €10.5bn.
This success consolidates Eurazeo’s steadfast commitment to supporting SMEs, driving growth, and fostering development within the European business landscape.
François Lacoste and Eric Gallerne, Managing Partners – Private Debt, said, “The success of this sixth vintage shows the level of confidence that our investors have in our Private Debt business, in which our cautious and selective strategy is particularly appropriate in the current environment. It is also an acknowledgment of the quality of our teams who, across our four European offices in Paris, London, Frankfurt and Madrid, support the development of many high-growth-potential mid-cap companies in Europe.”
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