Description
Ardian is a France-based, independent private equity investment company, founded and managed by Dominique Senequier. It is one of the largest European-headquartered private equity funds. The company was originally set up by Dominique Senequier in 1996 as the AXA Group's private equity division, but later gained independence in 2013, and rebranded itself as Ardian. The name Ardian was inspired by an ancient European language in which 'hardjan' mean strength, durability, and boldness. Ardian manages assets worth US$100 billion in Europe, North America and Asia, and has fifteen offices around the world in Paris, London, Frankfurt, Milan, Madrid, Zurich, New York, San Francisco, Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo, Jersey, Luxembourg, Santiago, and Seoul. Ardian offers a range of funds including funds of funds, direct funds, infrastructure, private debt and real estate, and manages a direct portfolio of more than 150 companies, including Vinci Park, Luton Airport and SPIE, and its fund of funds segments owns stakes in over 1500 funds. Ardian's 880 investors include institutional investors, funds of funds, government agencies, sovereign funds, family offices, pension funds and insurance companies). Ardian has been ranked one of the largest companies by amount raised in equity by Private Equity International, and was named "Company of the Year" 2013 by the readers of Private Equity International.
History
Originally a subsidiary of Axa, the company operated under the name AXA Private Equity until 2013, when the firm achieved independent status and was renamed to Ardian.
In 1996, Claude Bébéar, founder and former Axa CEO, tasked Dominique Senequier with the creation of a private equity entity at Axa. Based in Paris, Axa Private Equity started off with ten clients and €100 million worth of assets. The first investment took place in 1998 in the GSI Banque company Linedata.
In 1999, the opened offices in London and New York. That same year, it launched its funds of funds investment strategy.
In 2001, the company entered the German market by opening an office in Frankfurt.
In 2005, Ardian opened an office in Singapore and entered the Asian market. The same year, the company launched its Infrastructure investment strategy.
As a result of the 2007 financial crisis, the company postponed all new operations and instead focused on the management of its portfolio, in an effort to shield its companies from the effects of the crisis.
In 2008, Dominique Senequier insisted on distributing a higher percentage of the company's capital gains to the employees of the companies in Ardian's portfolio.
In 2009, Ardian acquired 100% of Kallista, a French company specialized in the production of renewable energies. Ardian then invested heavily in transports, energy, water supply and waste management. €2.5 billion were invested in infrastructure systems between 2005 and 2014.
The same year Ardian adopted the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) implemented by the UNPRI and published its CSR Charter.
In 2010, during the increased activity in the private equity secondary market, Ardian acquired a US$1.9 billion private equity portfolio from Bank of America[21] and a US$900 million portfolio from Natixis.
In 2012, the company opened an office in Beijing in order to invest on the Chinese market.
On 30 September 2013, Axa Private Equity announced that it had completed its spin-off from the Axa Group and renamed the firm Ardian. Per the terms of the deal, Axa Group retained ownership of 23% of the firm, management and employees owned 46%, and the remaining 31% was held by French family offices and institutions. Currently, 85% of employees are shareholders.
In 2013, Private Equity International ranked Ardian in the largest private equity firms by PE capital raised[25] and named it Company of the Year 2013 in France.
On 2 September 2015, Ardian opened an office in Madrid, Spain.
On 7 September 2015, Ardian announced the launch of Ardian Real Estate, dedicated to investment in non-residential properties in Europe.
On 7 October 2015, Ardian opened an office in San Francisco, USA.
On 5 December 2017, Ardian opened an office in Tokyo, Japan.
