Amundi PEF launches second Megatendances programme

Greg Gille
05 December 2019

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

French asset manager Amundi Private Equity Funds (Amundi PEF) has launched its Amundi Private Equity Megatendances II investment platform, targeting both retail and institutional investors.

Amundi PEF is looking to raise €500m for the programme, which is structured into several vehicles to attract both retail and institutional investors, Unquote understands.

The fund will target a gross IRR of 18% per transaction.

The first Megatendances programme raised €320m this year, against a target of €250m. The first-generation programme has been used in 18 transactions to date with around three quarters of the capital called as of October 2019; its deals include DL Software, Crosscall and WiFirst.

Investors
The fundraise will be open to retail clients, via a network of French banks and life insurance providers, until December 2020. Unquote understands that Amundi PEF is looking at a similar timeframe to raise capital from institutional investors.

Minimum commitments for retail clients start at €100, and Amundi PEF is aiming for that compartment to top out at €200m, with the rest of the capital raised coming from institutional investors.

Investments
Megatendances II will follow a strategy similar to its predecessor. It will take active minority stakes in growth capital and buyout transactions of private SMEs in France (at least 50% of deployment) and in the rest of the eurozone (maximum 50%). Target companies will generate revenues of €20m-1.5bn with an EBITDA of more than €3m. The average investment ticket will be €10-50m per transaction.

The portfolio will aim to include between 15-25 companies in total. The businesses will have to demonstrate they benefit from the impact of five global trends identified by Amundi: technology, demographic change, environment, globalisation, and social changes.

On the ESG side, portfolio companies will be selected based on ESG-SRI requirements during the due diligence process, and an ESG-SRI rating will be updated yearly throughout the lifespan of each investment.

People
Amundi PEF – Stanislas Cuny (head of direct private equity).