Bpifrance announced on Wednesday that it had invested nearly 1.5 billion euros in 2021 in 60 private equity funds, a record amount since the creation of the public bank in 2012.
In total, Bpifrance is present in the capital of 500 private funds which invested last year in 1,200 companies for 7.1 billion euros, including 6 billion in first-time investments, specifies the bank.
This is almost a doubling compared to 2020, a year marked by a slowdown in activity due to the pandemic and a 69% increase compared to 2019, which was itself already a record year with 4.2 billion invested by partner funds from Bpifrance.
The bank’s portfolio, which has 13 billion in assets under management, is divided equally between development capital and innovation capital.
The year 2021 was beyond our expectations both in terms of activity intensity and in terms of the performance of the funds in their investment activities, said Benjamin Paternot, executive director, during a press presentation. in charge of Bpifrance’s funds of funds activity.
According to him, the increase in activity took place while maintaining the same level of selectivity, but slightly increasing the level of risk, one-third of the funds invested being first-generation.
Uncertainty for the second semester
The increase is part of a broader movement of enthusiasm for private equity, i.e. investment mainly in unlisted companies, in France last year, up 41% compared to 2019, according to France Invest’s annual report published at the end of March.
For 2022, at the end of June, the level of distribution and value creation of our portfolio will be good, at least equivalent to that of last year at the same time, estimated the head of the public bank.
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Thus in the first half, Bpifrance should have invested nearly 700 million euros in around thirty funds, according to Mr. Paternot.
For the second half of the year, however, he mentions an area of uncertainty linked to the rise in interest rates, inflation, the war in Ukraine, or even the development of the technology sector in the United States and the instability of the markets.
But the funds invested by Bpifrance have the means to support their boxes, including in a more complicated period, assures the manager.
A favorable situation due to the constant increase in the amounts available from partner funds to make new investments, amounts which totaled 23 billion euros last year.