Omnes Croissance 4 hits €180m target

Alice Tchernookova
26 July 2016

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Omnes Capital's fourth mid-market buyout fund, Omnes Croissance 4, has hit its €180m target after more than two years on the road.

Launched in September 2013, Omnes had held a first close for the fund on €82m in December 2014. The fund has yet to hold a final close despite reaching its target.

Omnes Croissance 4 was launched in late 2013, right after Omnes gained full independence from Crédit Agricole, having bought all the shares previously held by Coller Capital.

Investors
Crédit Agricole contributed a cornerstone investment of €70m when the fund was launched. It is the first time Omnes has raised a fund without relying exclusively on its former parent Crédit Agricole, as the fund is also open to external investors.

Crédit Agricole investors thus represent 50% of the pool, while institutional investors make up 40% and high-net-worth individuals 10%. Institutional investors (around 10, according to the GP) include insurance companies, mutual insurances, pension funds and funds-of-funds, which for the most part are France-based, except for a few coming from the UK, Belgium, or the US (around 8% in total).

Investments
Omnes Croissance 4 is the GP's fourth mid-cap fund, focusing on the mid-market buyout and growth capital segments in France. It will thus target French SMEs with a turnover that falls within the €25-180m range, investing equity tickets between €8-25m.

Omnes usually targets French companies exclusively; however, bolt-on acquisitions for portfolio companies can involve foreign companies. About two thirds of the fund will be dedicated to the primary market, and an overlapping two thirds of the transactions should involve non-Parisian businesses.

The GP also said it would target companies with a strong digital focus, operating within the most active sectors on the French market, including B2B companies and the digital economy, among others.

Four investments have so far been made from the fund: Cogepart, a €9m OBO in February 2015; the Bimedia MBO in October 2015; Capcom, a €9.5m OBO in October 2015; and Dispam, in which Omnes bought a majority stake in an €11m OBO in December 2015.

In total, the GP is looking to hold a dozen portfolio companies via the fund. Two or three transactions are currently underway.

People
Omnes Capital – Benjamin Arm (head of buyout and growth capital).