The American Lazard places its pawns in European tech by joining forces with the French Elaia

2023-12-15 07:53:00

The financial power of Lazard Frères, the tech expertise of Elaia. This is the marriage that is emerging between the American investment bank wishing to strengthen its position in tech, and the French venture capital fund wishing to change scale. The two companies entered into exclusive negotiations on Thursday, December 14 with a view to a partnership which promises to be unprecedented.

This rapprochement will take the form of two major initiatives. The first is the creation, in 2024, of a new fund to finance the hyper-growth of startups up to the stock market. This fund late stage or growth in the jargon, dedicated to the largest funding rounds, will be equipped with “ several hundred million euros », according to Xavier Lazarus, the co-founder and managing partner of Elaia. He will be ” extension » of Elaia’s investment thesis in tech, that is to say that it will finance innovations intended for the professional market (BtoB) with very high technological added value, including disruptive innovations (deeptech) in all areas, from health to energy, including artificial intelligence, transport and even quantum.

Equipped with a dedicated team, this new fund will allow Elaia, which today specializes in seed and early growth phases, to follow its startups throughout their life, up to the stock market and even beyond thanks to Lazard, which supports them on the listed market.

Towards the complete integration of Elaia into Lazard?

For its part, the American investment bank, which is also developing in asset management and private banking, perceives tech as one of its main growth levers. “ Our clients trust us for the listed sector but they also want to develop in the unlisted sector. The challenge for them, as for us, is to finance the innovations that the world needs to face the crises, particularly energy and climate, and continue the digital revolution. », explains François-Marc Durand, CEO of Lazard Frères Gestion.

And this is why this new fund is designed as a joint venture between Lazard and Elaia, and not yet another investment vehicle integrated into Elaia. “ We don’t want to be just an investor “, claims the manager, but putting his expertise – Lazard Frères Gestion manages 40 billion dollars in assets -, his power throughout Europe, his experience on the side, and his roots in the United States, at the service of European startups , and in particular in France, Germany and Spain initially.

To do this, the investment bank has recruited, in 2022, Philippe Englebert, who advised Emmanuel Macron at the Elysée during the entire first five-year term on economic and innovation issues. It was he who established the connection between Lazard and Elaia.

The “growth” fund in a joint venture should also be just one step. The exclusive negotiations also aim to organize Lazard’s increase in capital in Elaia. First in a minority manner, then, probably, until the complete integration of Elaia within Lazard.

The American giant thus adds its name to the long list of investment funds and large global groups which place their pawns in Europe to finance tech and master the innovations of tomorrow. A logical consequence of the weakness of the ecosystem for financing pre-stock market phases in Europe, which is characterized by the domination of the Americans when it comes to financing the largest rounds of European startups. And this despite initiatives such as the Tibi and Tibi 2 plans in France – a total of 13 billion euros injected by bancassurance companies into tech from 2019 to 2026 -, or the 3.75 billion euros mobilized by the EU to finance the funds of growth Europeans, which are still struggling to bear fruit.