Valeo’s capital begins to consolidate. After bpifrance about a year ago , it is now the turn of the Strategic Equity Fund (FSP) to go up to the round of the tricolor equipment supplier.
Created in 2013, bringing together several French insurers whose aim is to support French companies via long-term investments, this investment fund has announced that it holds around 4% of the capital and voting rights of Valeo. “This investment was built gradually from 2019,” he said in a statement. “Valeo is one of our technological leaders whose ability to innovate and adapt is a great asset for the future”.
Long-term shareholders
In the process, the equipment manufacturer led by Jacques Aschenbroich announced that he had co-opted the FSP to its board of directors. Julie Avrane-Chopard, senior associate director at McKinsey, will therefore become a director replacing Georges Pauget, who resigned from his duties on Tuesday 24 March.
The FSP thus joins the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations group, whose subsidiary bpifrance had passed the 5% stake in Valeo’s capital last April : in total, the latter then held 7.34% of its capital and 8.41% of the equipment manufacturer’s voting rights. With the FSP, it is now 12.4% of Valeo’s capital which is held by long-term tricolor shareholders. As of December 31, the other shareholders with more than 5% were the American activist fund Harris Associates (5.16%), the Norwegian sovereign fund Norges Bank (5.12%) and Blackrock (5.11%).
Stock market collapse
Like the entire sector, the equipment manufacturer has seen its share price collapse for two years. Between its peak in 2018 and today, it has almost been divided by four, at 16 euros. The group has suffered from sector slowdown , but also of its heavy investments in R & D which have been slow to translate into turnover – even if today it considers itself well positioned in growing segments such as electric vehicles.
Owned by seven insurers (BNP Paribas Cardif, CNP Assurances, Crédit Agricole Assurances, Société Générale Assurances, Groupama, Natixis Assurances and Suravenir), the FSP has already invested 2 billion euros in companies such as Arkema, Safran, or SEB. Its portfolio was valued at 2.4 billion at the end of 2019.