FnB holds €134.5m final close for maiden fund

Francesca Veronesi
07 September 2018

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French food-focused GP FnB Private Equity has raised €134.5m for its maiden vehicle, FnB Europe Fund, surpassing its target of €120m.

The vehicle has been on the fundraising trail since early 2017. It held a first close in September 2017 in order to complete its first investment.

An interim close on €101m was held in April this year and the final close took place in August.

Reach Capital was used as a placement agent.

Investors
Institutional LPs, including funds-of-funds, insurance companies, pension funds and regional banks, made up around 80% of the fund. Private investors, including the FnB team, business angels and family offices committed the remainder.

About 40% of investors came from outside of France, with the European Investment Fund and several LPs based in northern Europe backing the vehicle, a FnB spokesperson told Unquote.

Investments
FnB Europe Fund will acquire majority stakes in small to medium-sized European businesses related to the food industry. It will target companies based in France, the UK, Benelux, Italy and Spain. The GP will invest tickets in the €8-18m range and plans to complete about 10 acquisitions.

FnB looks forward to investing alongside its LPs – this option was both encouraged by the GP itself and asked for by some of the LPs, a spokesperson from FnB confirmed to Unquote.

FnB Europe Fund's current investments include producer Bur Distribution in September last year, charcuterie specialist Sud-Ouest Lartigue et Fils this June, and fruit-processing company Valade Groupe. All three businesses are France-based.

The GP bought a majority stake in Valade together with Agro Invest. Existing investors Unexo, BNP Paribas Développement and Crédit Agricole Centre France reinvested to retain a minority stake.

A fourth acquisition is being finalised and is expected to take place by the end of 2018. As a result, a third of the fund should be deployed by the end of the year.

People
FnB Private Equity – Olivier Marchand, Antoine Sage, Valérie Lutt (partners); Vincent Broncard (associate).