Paris, July 7, 2021 - NextStage AM announces the third investment of its FPCI NextStage Championnes III vehicle raised in November 2020, by joining forces with Laurent Faibis and Valérie Cohen, co-founders of the Xerfi group, French leader in economic intelligence and sector studies in the context of an operation of nearly 30 million euros.
This fundraising, in which four banking establishments are associated, will enable Xerfi to accelerate the development of new digital research services and its external growth strategy initiated at the end of 2018 with the acquisition of the research company I + C, in order to strengthen its role as a consolidator in its market in France.
This investment is fully in line with the strategy of NextStage AM, and more particularly of the FPCI NextStage Championnes III, which targets French SMEs with high growth potential with a proven economic model. A true platform for the exchange of information and knowledge, with a strong reputation and a strong innovation DNA, Xerfi is positioned at the heart of the underlying trends that shape NextStage AM's investment strategy.
Founded in 1993, Xerfi has developed an emblematic brand, with the fundamental principles of reliability, rigor and intellectual independence. In a world in full upheaval, Xerfi is today an essential reference for deciphering the real economy, stimulating the thinking of economic and financial players in the face of complex decisions.
The Xerfi group has developed around three poles: Xerfi Etudes (edition of sectorial studies and analyzes on competition), Xerfi Specific (tailor-made studies, data collection thanks to its survey center) and Xerfi Canal (production and distribution of video content on the economy, business strategy and management). The group is one of the only players to master the entire information value chain, from data collection, digital processing, analysis to dissemination via written and audiovisual electronic media. This internalization of skills has enabled the group to continuously improve the quality and diversity of its offer as well as the productivity of its teams.
The agility provided by its digital tools and its business survey center enabled Xerfi to be from March 2020 the first player in the business intelligence market to integrate the impact of business intelligence into its analyzes and forecasts. Covid-19 health crisis and thus immediately meet the expectations of its customers to support them during this period of great uncertainty.
In 2020, Xerfi marketed its offer to 1.400 loyal customers, observers of the economy (banks, consulting firms, universities and grandes écoles) and actors of the economy (public or private and from all sectors combined), through offers of subscriptions, study credits and tailor-made services.
« We are delighted to welcome NextStage AM to the capital of Xerfi. Their teams, led by Julien Potier, were able to understand very quickly the issues of our business and the challenges of the operation that we wanted to carry out. Their association with Sopromec Participations, which we are happy to welcome again after a first successful joint experience when we were only a start-up, was unanimously approved ”, explains Valérie Cohen, Director of Distribution and Co-Founder.
« We were looking for a partner capable of understanding us and supporting us in the next stage of our development. We were seduced by NextStage AM's entrepreneur-investor culture and we are convinced of their ability to support us in the implementation of our development plan aimed at consolidating our leadership position in the business intelligence market. ", adds Laurent Faibis, President and Co-Founder.
“Xerfi is a very fine group which embodies values that are dear to us, such as intellectual rigor and independence. Laurent Faibis and Valérie Cohen have built in more than 25 years a reference brand which has been able to develop, complete and enrich its offer over time. » declares Julien Potier, Partner of NextStage AM.
About Xerfi:
Xerfi is the essential reference for sector studies to shed light on the understanding of the real economic world, and stimulate decision-making through an excellent knowledge of companies, their environment, their competition and their performance.
All large companies, as well as ETIs and SMEs, the main consulting firms, the best universities and business schools or large public administrations use Xerfi studies. The group's success is based on its exceptional catalog of more than 900 titles, which is continuously updated and enriched, based on unparalleled experience and proprietary data aggregated for more than 25 years. A “tailor-made” study and survey service also meets the specific needs of decision-makers.
The eminent position of the Xerfi group has been acquired thanks to the reliability, independence and intellectual rigor of its studies, the requirement placed on data processing by its own experts, its proven methodologies, the rigor of the analyzes and summaries, as well as the open-mindedness of its teams.
A private institute serving the general interest, Xerfi's mission goes beyond the strict framework of studies. It has imposed itself in the debate on major economic issues: a position which is based on internal multidisciplinary reflection and on a vast network of leading skills. Xerfi intends to assume a societal raison d'être: for almost 10 years, Xerfi Canal, the audiovisual journal of economics, strategy and management, has been deciphering the evolution of the world for the business world.
About NextStage AM :
Independent management company based in Paris, approved by the AMF, NEXTSTAGE AM, which has cultivated an “entrepreneur-investor” philosophy since its founding in 2002, is one of the pioneers and leaders of innovative and patient development capital in France. . NEXTSTAGE has developed a multi-strategy PE platform which represents, in terms of outstandings at the end of December 2020, directly and indirectly, more than € 6,5 billion AUM. NEXTSTAGE AM invests in a limited number of Medium-Sized Companies (64 companies in the portfolio as of 31/03/2021), French and European, innovative, and growth, to which it brings entrepreneurial investor expertise and strong operational support (integration of innovation, talents, international, external growth). NEXTSTAGE AM provides long-term support to these Medium-Sized Companies (MTEs), unlisted and listed on Alternext and Euronext B and C, which are positioned around the ongoing industrial revolution, its three technological disruptions, digital, environmental innovation, and smart health, and are based around the 4 major cross-cutting fund trends, the on-demand economy (digital platforms and Saas), the industrial internet (from robots to AI), Positive economy (green growth, blue growth, environmental performance), and the Economy of the value of our emotions and the quality of the customer experience. It gives them the means to accelerate their development and their capacity for innovation to become “Champions” in their markets, both in France and internationally, through organic and / or external growth. NEXTSTAGE AM received in December 2015 the Gold Award for the best player in development capital in Europe by Private Equity Awards, in 2017 NextStage Croissance won the special prize of the Jury Actifs de l'Innovation and in 2019 and 2021 the Prize of the editorial staff, Private Equity category of the 2019 wealth management pyramids.
https://www.nextstage-am.com/
Press contacts :
NextStage AM: Jonathan Boudin - jbo@nextstage.com - 01 44 29 99 04
Shan : Alexandre Daudin - alexandre.daudin@shan.fr - 01 44 50 51 76 / Lola Gozlan - lola.gozlan@shan.fr - 06 24 76 83 40
Stakeholders:
Entrepreneurs : Laurent Faibis, Valerie Cohen
Entrepreneurs advice :
- Edmond De Rothschild Corporate Finance (Guillaume Jaureguiberry, Boris Martin, Adam Lado)
- Legal counsel: Vivien & Associés (Jean-Luc Bédos, François Sicard, Elie Lounis)
- Tax lawyer: Vivien & Associés (Marine Pelletier Capes, Aymerick Jantet)
- VDD: Oderis (Aurélien Vion, Norian Lebrot)
NextStage AM : Julien Potier (Partner), Léa Boux (Analyst), Emilio Johnston (Analyst)
NextStage AM Tips :
- Legal counsel: Chammas and Marcheteau (Stéphanie Bréjaud, Clara Deslais)
- Tax lawyer: Chammas and Marcheteau (Christophe Moreau, Morgan Toanen)
- Finance and legal: Mazars (Pierre Tchertoff, Isabelle Tristan, Constance Ghesquiere-Dierickx)
- Legal, fiscal, social: Mazars (Iosif Cozea, Jérôme Gertler, Charles-Augustin Dequidt)
Financing advice :
- Finaxeed (Matthieu Lecomte, Arnaud Ge)
- Borrower lawyer: Chammas and Marcheteau (Pierre-Louis Sévegrand)
- Lending lawyer: August & Debouzy (Laure Bonin, Emmanuel Le Galloc'h, Ava Bensimon)
Sopromec Participations : Stéphane Taunay (Chairman of the Management Board), Stéphane Roy (Member of the Management Board)
Banks :
- Coordinator: HSBC Continental Europe (Cyril-Henri Prévost)
- Mandated arranger: BNP Paribas (Patricia Seres, Sandra Llongario)
- Mandated arranger: CIC Nord Ouest (Michael Prevost)
- Mandated arranger: Crédit du Nord (Damien Demeslay)
Download the press release: CP - NextStage AM supports the development of Xerfi, the French leader in economic intelligence and sector studies
