PAI Partners is a French

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...

firm based in Paris, France. It is one of the oldest firms in the sector, with its origins dating back to Paribas Affaires Industrielles, the historical principal investment activity of Paribas, which started operations in 1872. PAI manages €25.4 billion of dedicated buyout funds. Since 1994, PAI has completed 65 LBO transactions in 11 European countries, representing over €48 billion in transaction value. PAI has 62 agents from 10 countries and teams in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

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Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

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and

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History

PAI was formerly known as Paribas Affaires Industrielles, the historical principal investment activity of Paribas. PAI LBO Fund, established in 1998, was the first PAI investment vehicle managing third party capital. Prior to 1998, PAI invested exclusively on the balance sheet of

BNP Paribas BNP Paribas is a French international banking group, founded in 2000 from the merger between Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP, "National Bank of Paris") and Paribas, formerly known as the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas. The full name of the grou ...

. Paribas merged with

Banque Nationale de Paris BNP Paribas is a French international banking group, founded in 2000 from the merger between Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP, "National Bank of Paris") and Paribas, formerly known as the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas. The full name of the grou ...

in 2000. In 1993, Amaury de Sèze joined Paribas Affaires Industrielles as chairman and chief executive officer. Under his leadership, PAI developed a strategy in

that capitalized on the team's familiarity with industrial sectors. Paribas Affaires Industrielles led the €610 million buyout of

Danone Danone S.A. () is a French multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock market index. Some of the company's products are ...

’s pasta and condiment unit in 1997, at that time the largest

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money ( leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loa ...

ever completed in France. The following year, the firm finalized fundraising for its first third party investment fund, raising €650 million of investor commitments. PAI completed a full spinout from BNP in 2000 and the following year raised a new €1.8 billion private equity fund. In September 2009, Lionel Zinsou became CEO and Chairman of the firm. In 2015,

Michel Paris Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

became CEO after Lionel Zinsou stepped down to become prime minister in

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

. In March 2015, PAI raised its fifth LBO fund, PAI Europe VI, reaching €3.3 billion, above the initial target of €3 billion. In September 2017, PAI announced the raising of a seventh investment vehicle: PAI Europe VII. In March 2018, PAI closed their PAI Europe VII fund.

Investment funds

Funds

Prior to 1998, PAI made investments via the Paribas Portfolio. The Paribas Portfolio was funded directly from Paribas’ balance sheet, largely unleveraged and comprising 51 investments, all of which have now been realised. Reflecting the broader investment remit of PAI at the time, it included control and non-control investments. Since 1998, PAI has raised five private equity funds, as detailed below:

Detailed investments

Historically, PAI managed Paribas's stakes in large food and consumer goods companies across Europe: Royal Canin (European leader in dry pet food), Diana Ingredients (natural food ingredients), Evialis (animal feed), Saupiquet (ready meals), LDC (premium poultry), Navidul (cured ham – Spain),

SOS Arana is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, that was originally established for maritime use. In formal notation is written with an overscore line, to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" ...

(rice – Spain) and helped them consolidate their respective sector. In 2021 PAI completed its largest ever investment with the $3.3 billion acquisition of Tropicana, Naked and other North American juice brands from

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manufa ...

. Previous transactions in consumer goods and services, healthcare as well as general industrial companies are highlighted below:

PAI VI investments

PAI V investments

PAI IV investments

Previous investments

* Amora Maille: Sauces and condiments; acquired from

in 1997 sold to

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...

in 1999 * Antargaz: Propane and butane provision; sold to

UGI Corporation UGI Corporation (formerly United Gas Improvement Corp.) is a natural gas and electric power distribution company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, with extensive operations in the United States and Europe. UGI owns AmeriGas, the ...

in 2004 * Carglass: vehicle glass repair and replacement group * Elis SA: Textile rental, hygiene services * Gerflor: PVC flooring * Groupe Lapeyre: Distribution of construction material * Ipsen: Pharmaceutical laboratory * VIA-GTI (known as

Keolis Keolis is a multinational transportation company that operates public transport systems. The company manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus and funicular services. ...

): Transport; acquired 1995 and sold in 1999 to

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffic ...

Panzani Panzani is a French brand of pasta. Since 2005, it has been a subsidiary of Ebro Foods. Overview The brand was started by Jean Panzani in Parthenay in 1950. In the 1950s, he sold pasta in cellophane whereas other companies used cardboard. From ...

- Lustucru: Pasta and pasta sauces; acquired in 1997 from

, sold to Puleva en 2005 * Point P: Construction material distributor; *

Provimi Provimi is a company specializing in animal nutrition and related products. In the 1930s it started selling a product under the name Provimi, a mixture of three basic elements in every animal feed and this is where the present name is derived from ...

: Animal nutrition * Royal Canin: Animal nutrition for dogs and cats, sold to

Mars Incorporated Mars, Incorporated is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of animal care services, with US$40 billion in annual sales in 2021. Mars was ranked as the fourth-largest privat ...

in 2002 * SAUR: Water distribution, sanitation and waste management services * Saeco: Coffee machine manufacturer * Vivarte: Shoe and women wear retailer; sold in 2007 to Charterhouse Capital Partners *

William Saurin William Saurin (1757 – 11 February 1839) was an Irish barrister, Crown official and politician. He was Attorney-General for Ireland from 1807 to 1822, and for much of that period, he acted as the effective head of the Irish Government. He was ...

: Canned ready meals; sold to Financière Turenne Lafayette (FTL) in 2001 * Yoplait: 51% share: Fresh dairy products, sold to

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company or ...

in 2011

Notes and references

External links

*
PAI partners
BusinessWeek Profile

"

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, November 16, 2004 *Timmons, Heather
Private Equity Investors Are Reshaping the Landscape of European Business
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', May 5, 2005
IPH shareholders
{{private equity firms Private equity firms of France Companies based in Paris Financial services companies established in 1998