One hundred

During my recent trip to Paris, I found that the majority of industry players I spoke with thought it unlikely that many French GPs would fold at all. Buyouts are up this month, with the Compin deal finally being completed and both GIMV and Pragma taking a stake in Leyton & Associes. Meanwhile, adding to the optimism, Stantum completed the largest expansion deal of 2009 by welcoming a EUR10m investment from CDC Innovation and Auriga Partners, and LBO France laughed off funding fears and launched its first credit fund, Altercap 1, launched a small cap fund (Hexagone III) and closed its mid-market fund White Knight VIII.

The French market also saw a demonstration of the Loi de Sauvegarde, introduced by the government to help ailing companies, when TowerBrook bought a majority share of Autodistribution in a pre-pack administration - a tool set to become increasingly popular in the coming year.

This issue France unquote" celebrates its 100th edition and 10th anniversary. Since 1999, my predecessors and I have strived to bring you the most up to date and intrinsic reporting on the French private equity world, a task we have hugely enjoyed doing. I would like to take the opportunity to thank you, the reader, for supporting us, some of you since the beginning, as well as all those who have contributed to the journal over the years. Although private equity is facing another tough year, I strongly believe that deal flow and debt will return in 2010, so here's to the next 100 France unquotes.

Yours sincerely,

Francois Rowell

Editor, France unquote"

Tel: +44 20 7004 7524

francois.rowell@incisivemedia.com.

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