Alter Equity 3P closes on €41.5m after reopening to commitments

José Rojo
15 September 2015

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Alter Equity 3P, an impact-investment-focused fund launched by Alter Equity in 2013, has closed on €41.5m after exceptionally taking in new commitments on the back of its €33m final close in March.

Launched in January 2013, Alter Equity 3P held a €21m first close in October of the same year. At the time, BPI France, one of the lead LPs, stated fundraising would stretch on for a further 12-18 months.

In March 2015, the vehicle put a lid on fundraising at €33m amid claims of oversubscription. However, during the following weeks, one of the LPs asked for the vehicle to reopen to contributions so that a large commitment could be made, according to Alter Equity founding partner Fanny Picard.

Speaking recently to unquote", Picard said Alter Equity 3P received a further €8.5m in capital when fundraising was resumed. The fresh funds were mainly supplied by BPI France and an unidentified pension fund – the duo contributed €3m and €3.6m, respectively. The remainder was provided by investment group Tikehau and a number of entrepreneurs.

Investors
When Alter Equity 3P held its €33m final close in April, it was revealed that backers included BPI France, the Ile-de-France region, Agrica, Fonds de Garantie, Swen Capital, BNP Paribas, Predica, Natixis, Idinvest, Fondation de France, the Peugeot-owned FFP holding and CFDT.

At the time, press reports stated the group of institutional investors were responsible for 77% of the commitments to the fund, with high-net-worth individuals and business angels contributing the balance.

Investments
According to BPI France, Alter Equity 3P targets investments between €500,000-5m. The vehicle seeks to acquire minority and majority stakes across French SMEs with revenues in excess of €1m and "strong" growth potential.

In line with its impact investment focus, the fund prioritises companies within environment-friendly sectors such as resources and waste management, emission reduction, green chemistry, bioproducts and biodiversity conservation. It also targets businesses developing socially-responsible policies such as education and training, employability, fair trade and healthcare and wellbeing, among others.

According to Picard, Alter Equity 3P's only two investments to date are €1m rounds for environmentally friendly cosmetics business boho.green in July 2014 and software and consulting firm OpenAirlines in June 2015. Having invested 4.81% of its capital, the vehicle will soon finance a third deal to be announced by late October, unquote" understands.

People
Fanny Picard is a founding partner of Alter Equity 3P, while Etienne Allilaire is also partner and the vehicle's investment manager.