Inside Private Equity - The Big Debrief, 26 June 2024

This episode continues the discussion on private equity, focusing on two main themes: exit strategies and the right time to invest. The debrief first looks at fund exits: IPOs, strategic sales, or new financial investors. Emmanuel Straschnov, co-founder of Bubble, prioritizes independence and is more focused on an IPO. Henri de Castries and Frédéric Stolar note, however, that there is no single ideal scenario: the right exit depends on the company’s maturity, the founders’ vision, and alignment with the fund. The program then addresses the role of the government and regulation. Claire Chabrier emphasizes that the PACTE Act and the Green Industry Act promote access for individuals to unlisted companies, particularly through life insurance and retirement savings. Henri de Castries stresses the need for regulatory stability and a European framework more conducive to long-term risk-taking. A significant portion is devoted to the relationship between entrepreneurs and funds. Private equity is presented as a sparring partner: it provides capital, but also recruitment, expertise, benchmarks, a network of executives, and a critical eye on structural decisions. Finally, the roundtable with wealth management advisors addresses the issue of market timing. The consensus is clear: in private equity, it is less important to seek “the right moment” than to build a consistent strategy over time. Speakers recommend investing in successive tranches, as institutional investors do, to smooth out cycles and keep capital at work. Rising interest rates are analyzed as a factor in revaluations: while they may have weighed on past transactions, they also create better entry points for new investments. Private equity is also presented as an asset class that can potentially hedge against inflation, provided that companies capable of passing on price increases through their pricing power are selected.