News

Belgian Growth Fund commits EUR 20 million to Andera Expansion III, a growth & buy-out capital fund focusing on SME’s with the objective to transform them into frontrunners in their markets. The fund is managed by Andera Partners, a highly experienced French private equity firm with over EUR 3.0 billion assets under management in various domains. Andera was formerly known as Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners.

Andera Expansion III, the new EUR 250 million small-cap fund, represents a continuation of the firm’s proven and successful track record in bringing enterprises to the next level and becoming strong market leaders through international development and buy-and-build trajectories. Target areas for sourcing opportunities are primarily France and Belgium, and possibly neighboring countries. Andera has been strongly active in Belgium over the past years, having built a portfolio of companies through both predecessor growth & buy-out funds (e.g. Infra Group, Minafin, Pennel et Flipo, ACB) and life sciences funds (e.g. Nyxoah, MDxHealth, Agomab Therapeutics). In October 2019 Andera has appointed Mr. Hans Van de Velde (ex-Deloitte Corporate Finance) as its dedicated full-time Senior Advisor for sourcing deals in Belgium for the growth & buy-out segment, amplifying its ambition for this country. Andera Expansion III is funded by a balanced group of solid international investors, including pension funds, insurance companies, public funds, family offices and Andera Partners.

Relevance

David Robin, Managing Partner of Andera, comments: "We are delighted to have received the support from a leading player as recognized as BGF. For us, it underlines the relevance of our investment strategy and our involvement with Belgian SME’s. We hope that this will lead to a further acceleration of our investment activity in Belgium and to the expansion of our Belgian office”.

Track record

Koen Heindryckx and Mireille Kielemoes of Belgian Growth Fund complement: “We are proud to join this new fund as a shareholder. The Andera team impressed us with their excellent and consistent track record over the years. ESG is part of their way of doing business and Andera proves that financial return and societal impact can go hand-in-hand. We look forward to the journey with David Robin, Mayeul Caron and Olivier Le Gall and their team.”

Seventh investment

With this new transaction, Belgian Growth Fund realizes its seventh investment since its inception mid 2019, after previous entries in Smartfin Capital II, Fortino Capital II Growth, Sofindev V, Gilde Healthcare V, Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund I and an additional fund whose name will be disclosed after its final closing.

About Andera Partners

Created in 2001, Andera Partners is a major player in private company investments in France and internationally. Its teams manage over EUR 3.0 billion in investments in life sciences (Andera Life Sciences), growth and buyout capital (Andera MidCap, Andera Expansion and Andera Croissance), sponsorless transactions (Andera Acto) and ecological transition (Andera Infra). Andera Partners’ mission is to work alongside companies and their managers to support them in achieving strong and sustainable growth. The quality of performance offered to our investors relies on a strong partnership between the entrepreneurs in our portfolio companies and our teams, based on shared values. Performance through collective engagement, the “Power of And”, constitutes Andera Partners’ DNA. Based in Paris, with offices in Antwerp and Munich, Andera Partners is wholly owned by its teams, which count nearly 85 professionals, of which 57 investment professionals. It is structured as a partnership and managed by a board of 10 partners. Responsible and committed, the management company regularly forms partnerships with non-profit sector entities and takes concrete action in the fight against global warming. Andera Partners has been certified carbon neutral since 2018.