Cèdre
At a Glance
A French acquisition round's co-investor rather than a search backer: worth a call once you have a target past its floor, not before.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Investment terms, not fees. Its approach page publishes the band, 5 to 15 million euros per project in companies at 2 million euros of EBITDA or more, invested from its own funds; nothing on the searcher's economics.
- Best For
- A searcher buying a French company past 2 million euros of EBITDA who needs a lead or co-investor for the acquisition round and has the search budget covered elsewhere
- Track Record
- A family holding presided over since 1994 by its own team page, or for near twenty years by its portfolio page; twenty-nine current holdings and twenty-three exits listed, three of the holdings buy-ins with the operator named.
- Lane
- Traditional
- Funds
- The deal only
- Based
- Paris.
- Invests
- French companies.
- Buys
- Companies at 2 million euros of EBITDA or more, 5 to 15 million euros per project, as a minority or majority shareholder, alone or with co-investors, to support the company's growth.
- Before A First Call
- One generic contact form titled for an investment project, with company, name, email, phone and message, and an email address on the legal page. No named partner, no condition on the person, and nothing addressed to a searcher.
- First-Time Operators
- Criteria about the COMPANY only: French, 2 million euros of EBITDA, 5 to 15 million euros a project. The three buy-in pages name the incoming operator and say nothing about whether a first-time owner is wanted or refused.
- How Long The Search Runs
- No length on the search and nothing about what happens if it ends without a deal, on the pages this review read. Ask what the clock is before you sign anything.
- Published Terms
- Its own funds, in its own words, with no outside constraints; 5 to 15 million euros per project. Nothing on the searcher's side.
- What A Searcher Gets
- Not published on the pages this review read. It is the figure a searcher most wants and most of this shelf does not print it, so ask before the first call rather than after.
- Roadmap Stages
- 1. Learn & Choose Your Path3. Set Up & Fund the Search
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Publishes a size band and a floor, 5 to 15 million euros per project at 2 million euros of EBITDA or more, which most of this shelf does not
- Its holding pages name the incoming operator on three buy-ins and call one an MBI search fund transaction
- Invests its own capital as a family holding, with no fund clock named anywhere on its pages
Cons
- French companies only, and nothing on any page offers search-phase capital
- One search fund sentence on about forty pages: the lane is family-holding private equity, and a searcher is one kind of buy-in it has backed
- Its legal page and its contact page print two different Paris addresses, and its founding reads 1994 on one page and about twenty years on another
What Searchers Say
Read whole, thirty-eight French pages and their English twins: twenty-nine current holdings with an entry year each and twenty-three exits as bare year ranges, no counts, no counters, no roster and no regulator named, since it invests its own capital.
How to Approach
Firms do not publish a term sheet you can prepare against, so this is how traditional (investor-backed) search capital comes in, what it weighs, and how to arrive ready.
The Typical Arc
- A first conversation on your background and why search, before any deal.
- A deep dive on your plan: industries, criteria, and how you will source.
- Backing for the search itself, then a fresh underwrite when you bring a live deal.
- A board seat and governance once you close.
What It Weighs
- Whether you will finish a two-year search, not only start one.
- The quality of your thesis and target criteria.
- How you will behave on a cap table over a long hold.
How to Prepare
- Bring a sourcing thesis, not a blank slate. Buyer Profile Builder
- Know which firms lead versus follow, and on what terms. Investors
- Make your operator case on one page. Buyer Profile Builder