Sofiouest, the investment and holding company subsidiary of the Sipa Ouest-France Group, is accelerating the deployment of its new investment strategy dedicated to Growth-Buyout Capital for French SMEs, with the arrival of an Investment Director in charge of the development of direct investment and the management of partnerships with the funds selected for indirect investment.

A new investment strategy for Sofiouest

In order to diversify Sofiouest’s investment opportunities while contributing to local economic prosperity, the Company’s Board of Directors decided in December 2019 to add a GROWTH-BUYOUT CAPITAL component to its investment strategy, supplementing the REAL ESTATE and INNOVATION divisions. The ambition is to have a balanced, value-creating portfolio by 2024, with approximately one-third invested in each main asset class, in addition to a reserve of cash and non-strategic financial assets.

As a first step in this new development, Sofiouest’s asset base (to date around €130 million) has been expanded in 2020 and the first half of 2021 by several significant investments in specialized funds: Arkéa Capital 2, Yotta Smart Industry, Geneo Capital Entrepreneur, Albarest Partners. They were chosen for the strength of their teams’ track record, their ESG commitments in accordance with Sofiouest’s responsible investor profile, and also for the possibility of an active partnership with their manager.

The arrival of Florian Denys marks a new stage in Sofiouest’s expansion in this area of its strategy with the creation of a dedicated management team and the sourcing of direct investments in profitable French SMEs with proven growth potential and a desire to pursue an ESG approach.

Florian Denys, non-listed investment and M&A professional

Florian Denys is 32 years old and a graduate of EDHEC Business School. He has a solid deal record thanks to his experience at Edenred Capital Partners, a venture capital fund, and at Ernst & Young for small- and mid-cap M&A transactions. Since 2018, he had been in charge of the Growth Capital fund of the Growth and Technology team at the independent asset management company A PLUS FINANCE.

With his arrival, Sofiouest and its holdings will benefit from his deal-making expertise, from sourcing to execution, in the small and mid cap universe.

Patrice Hutin, Chief Operating Officer of Sofiouest, said:“I am delighted that Florian, whom I have already been able to appreciate through our shared experiences, has chosen to join Sofiouest. With his arrival, we will be able to use our resources on a broader spectrum of companies, and thus contribute with a long-term horizon to their modernization and development so as to promote ground-level job creation, while also supporting them in pursuing ambitious ESG approaches, in accordance with our responsible investor profile.”