Apax heads for second small-cap fund with EUR 350m target

Apax Development Fund II will target EUR 350m, looking to primarily attract private and institutional investors, with a minimum entry of around EUR 100,000, according to a press release.

The sponsor is also promoting Isabelle Hermetet as the co-head of the Apax Development fund series, alongside Caroline Rémus, who became the head of Apax Development in 2011. Hermetet joined French small-cap GP EPF Partners in 1997, which was acquired by Apax Partners in 2017.

Fund II will invest in French SMEs operating in the tech and telecom, business and financial services, health and consumer goods sectors. Its average ticket will be between EUR 15m and EUR 50m, in line with its predecessor.

Announced in late 2017, Apax Development Fund held a final close in January 2020 on EUR 255m, according to Unquote Data. The vehicle was the GP’s first in the small-cap and lower-mid-market space since its acquisition of EPF Partners, as previously reported. Fund I was primarily invested by French pension funds, funds of funds, which represented half of its LP base. It was also backed by insurers and banks (20%), along with family offices.

Last year, the fund had acquired a majority stake in BTP Consultants, a French consultancy for the construction industry, and a minority stake in Hifield, a cybersecurity, cloud and infrastructure services provider.

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