European asset manager Tikehau Capital’s subsidiary Ace Management set up the Ace Aero Partenaires fund last year, which is focused on helping companies in the aviation industry that have been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ace Aero Partenaires fund was first announced last June by Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Economy, Finance and Recovery in France. Airbus, Safran, Thales and Dassault Aviation launched a call for tenders and selected the Tikehau fund and its subsidiary ACE to form the fund.
The initial amount raised was €630million – upsized from the €500million planned. That figure has now been boosted by €100million with a new commitment from the Crédit Agricole Group.
Crédit Agricole Group and its regional banks, LCL, and Crédit Agricole S.A., Crédit Agricole Group have invested €100 million alongside the €200 million by the French government, €200 million from the four major players in the GIFAS (French aerospace industries association) – Airbus, Dassault, Safran, and Thales – and €230million from Tikehau Capital.
Crédit Agricole’s investment in the aeronautics sector supports the main focus areas of the Plan de Relance(France’s recovery plan) and is in line with the group’s purpose to support the industry and its clients. The fund aims to ensure short-term protection for companies weakened by the health crisis; to maintain skills and know-how in this sector employing more than 380,000 people; and support the sector’s SMEs and mid-caps in their innovation efforts and digital transformation.
“The investment by more than 20 Crédit Agricole regional banks reaffirms our long-lasting support for the aeronautics sector in all regions. It will help to sustain and transform this French sector of excellence,” explained Nicolas Langevin, CEO of the Crédit Agricole Toulouse 31 regional bank.
Olivier Nicolas, Head of Corporate, Institutional, Wealth Management and Private Banking Division of LCL, confirmed that “by investing in the Ace Aéro Partenaires fund and as arranger of the first ‘Aero’ government-guaranteed loan on 23 December, LCL is demonstrating its support for this sector, which will face immense post-COVID challenges: strengthening an industrial base weakened by the crisis, preserving research and development capabilities, and, of course, accelerating innovation to foster the green transition. LCL will be proud to participate alongside other Crédit Agricole Group entities”.
The fund is managed by the private equity firm Ace Capital Partners, subsidiary of Tikehau Capital, which specialises in strategic industrial and technological sectors and invests in niche players and in platforms aimed at strengthening the sector.
Marwan Lahoud, Executive Chairman of Ace Capital Partners, stated, “We applaud Crédit Agricole’s commitment to this key investment vehicle for the aeronautics sector, which we have the pleasure of managing. This investment marks an important milestone in its development. We are delighted to be able to count on this new strategic partner in our work as a sector-focused investor committed to protecting and strengthening this cutting-edge industry”.
Antoine Flamarion and Mathieu Chabran, co-founders of Tikehau Capital, added, “We are delighted with this investment by our long-standing partner, Crédit Agricole. Its very significant contribution will be an important factor in ensuring the success of the fund dedicated to the aeronautics sector. We wanted to go beyond our subsidiary Ace Capital Partners’ role as the manager of the fund by committing our own balance sheet in this sector, in line with our strategy to align our interests with those of our investor partners”.
When it was launched on 28 July 2020, the ambition of the aeronautical fund, which had raised total commitments of €630 million in the first round of funding, was the rapid accumulation of €1 billion in assets under management. This investment by Crédit Agricole has been described as a major step towards achieving that goal.