Paris, 12 September 2022. Apax announces that it has acquired a minority stake in Pandat Finance, alongside Bpifrance, with a view to supporting the group in continuing its strong levels of growth.
Established in 2009, Pandat Finance is a pioneer and the leading French broker for cash investments. Pandat Finance provides businesses, associations and institutional investors with access to the best rates of return on short-, medium- and long-term cash investment products.
With forecast revenue in 2022 of almost €15 million and with 40 employees across three offices (Paris, Lyon and Bordeaux), the company has formed trust-based relationships with more than 600 customers, including several SBF 120 groups, middle-market companies and also a number of institutional customers.
The breadth of its product offering, its in-depth knowledge of the ecosystem of financial partners, the expertise of its teams and the quality of its advice make Pandat Finance a reference partner for its customers. This unique positioning lies behind its strong annual growth – of 35% on average since 2019 – and its ability to deal effectively with its customers’ various cash investment issues.
The investment by Apax and Bpifrance, alongside the founders, David Guyot and Thomas Forest, who retain control over the company, will allow Pandat Finance to accelerate its growth by hiring a significant number of new advisors, diversifying its product expertise and extending its geographical reach, both organically and through targeted acquisitions. Pandat Finance is seeking to hire more than 60 new employees over the next four years, including 30 or so advisors, and is planning to open five offices in France and neighbouring countries by 2026.
Pandat Finance is the ninth investment by the Apax Development fund. As a result of this new transaction, Apax has strengthened its expertise in financial services and cash management, following its investments in Groupe Crystal – the leading group in the asset management market – and Diapason – a cash, payment and risk management software company.
The transaction sees ISAI, a minority shareholder since 2019, sell its stake in the group.
We are proud and pleased to welcome Apax as shareholder, a leading private equity firm with considerable experience of the financial services sector and, more broadly, of providing support to companies in the hypergrowth phase. Apax’s recognised technical expertise, and the support of Bpifrance, which will help us to accelerate our regional expansion, will allow the group to pursue its ambitions and achieve its next growth targets. We thank ISAI’s teams for their contribution which, over the past three years, has allowed Pandat Finance to grow considerably
David Guyot and Thomas Forest, managers and founders of Pandat Finance
We are very keen to start working with David Guyot and Thomas Forest and their teams and to begin helping them to implement their ambitious growth strategy. Pandat Finance has enjoyed a remarkable growth trajectory due to the significant agility and expertise of its teams. The group has become the market leader, highlighting its ability to combine sustained growth and high quality of service
Isabelle Hermetet, Partner, and Martin Bouilleux, Director, at Apax
We were impressed and attracted by David and Thomas’s dynamism, their remarkable track record and their vision for the future. We are happy to support them and Apax in this new growth phase, by working with the team on accelerating the business, its visibility and its sustainability
Luc Heinrich, Deputy Director, and Maxime Margier-Aubert, Investment Director, in Bpifrance’s Equity Mid Cap team
We are proud of the progress made with Thomas, David and their team over the last three years: Pandat Finance underwent a significant transformation and developed a sustainable growth model. We wish Pandat Finance, Apax and BPI every success in their next growth phase
Christophe Poupinel, Partner, and Pierre Dumas, Investment Director, at ISAI
List of advisors
Apax: Isabelle Hermetet, Martin Bouilleux, Antoine Desjeux
Bpifrance: Luc Heinrich, Maxime Margier-Aubert, Chloé Quiodo, Thibaut Cambuzat
ISAI: Christophe Poupinel, Antoine Lacour, Pierre Dumas
Buyer advisor
- Corporate legal team: Moncey (Guillaume Giuliani, Marie-Victoire James, Eléonore Coquerel)
- Financing legal team: Hogan Lovells (Alexander Premont, Luc Bontoux)
- Tax legal team: Moncey (Frédéric Bosc)
- Financial due diligence: Pwc (Hervé Demoy, François Bourrelier)
- Commercial due diligence: Pwc (Romain Godard, Thomas Peny Coblentz)
- Regulatory due diligence: Pwc (Daniel Berlioz, Céline Diebolt)
- Financing advisor: Natixis (Patrice Raulin, Martin Chalanset)
M&A advisors
- Vendor: Natixis (Valérie Pellereau, Antoine Poupard, Ludovic Balkany, Mary Laroche)
- Buyer: Newco (Jean-Louis Duverney, Alexandre Gebelin, Jeeshan Mohamad)
Vendor advisors
- Financial due diligence: Pwc (Philippe Serzec, Louis Terrier)
- Corporate legal team: Hogan Lovells (Stéphane Huten, Arnaud Deparday, Laura Medjoub)
Debt
- Arkéa: Marc Lopet
- Société Générale: Caroline Marquaille, Audrey Pelletier
- Caisse d’Epargne et de prévoyance Hauts-de-France: Maxime Rime, Yoann Dolidon
