Amundi to launch fourth direct small-cap fund – exclusive

Amundi Private Equity is planning to launch its fourth direct small-cap fund in the second half of this year with a €150 million target.

The Paris-based asset manager expected to hold a first close on the as-yet unnamed vehicle in December, Stanislas Cuny, head of direct private equity, told Private Equity International. The fund will invest between €3 million to €10 million in small enterprises.

The firm’s previous small-cap vehicle, the 2012-vintage Amundi PMO France III, secured €120 million of commitments. PMO France III is expected to be fully deployed by the end of the year. The manager’s direct vehicles seek to tap into five global mega-trends: technology, environment, globalisation, demography and social change.

Amundi is also planning to hold a final close on Amundi Private Equity Fund Megatrends by December, Cuny said. The 2016-vintage vehicle, which had a €250 million target, held a second close on €270 million in December and has a €350 million hard-cap.

The majority of the fund’s LPs – of which more than 50 percent are re-ups – originate from France, Cuny noted. It is divided into four different compartments for legal reasons: institutional investors, insurance companies, banks and employee selling funds. The compartments will be invested equally across the portfolio.

The fund will target 15 to 20 active minority positions with €3 million to €30 million ticket sizes in family-owned enterprises across France, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Germany. It has already deployed €60 million across four transactions.

Amundi’s private equity team comprises 32 staff, of whom 15 focus on directs, 15 on funds of funds and two on both strategies. The team – which has approximately €7 billion in assets under management, including €1.2 billion of direct investments – has replaced the three members of its fund of funds team that joined Essling Capital in September, Cuny said.