Sénevé Capital

Sénevé Capital

Louis de Lestanville and Jean de Sampigny founded Sénevé Capital in 2017 after a seven-year partnership at Argos Wityu, where they jointly managed Argos Expansion. The firm operates from 20 rue Cambon in Paris, targeting French SMEs and mid-market companies with revenue between €10M and €100M. Its creation responded to a structural gap in the French private equity market for experienced operators willing to step into ownerless companies and drive strategic overhauls. Sénevé runs a deal-by-deal independent sponsor model, raising capital per transaction rather than from a blind pool. The strategy centers on management buy-ins, buyouts, spin-offs, and carve-outs across sectors including enterprise software, industrial services, food processing, and construction. Active investments include Omogen (field-service and enterprise-asset-management software, acquired via MBI in 2022), Groupe SBM (a building and civil-engineering contractor, acquired via MBO in 2024), and Loyez Woessen, France's leading butter-packaging firm acquired in 2017. The firm also exited positions in medical device manufacturer Spengler and industrial maintenance group Demolin. Geographic focus is exclusively French, with investments spread across the country's industrial and services heartlands. Sénevé is led by its two founding partners and senior associate François Guérault, a 30-year veteran in acquisition finance and private equity. The team emphasizes operational proximity to management, often installing new leadership and restructuring commercial, technical, and financial functions post-acquisition. The portfolio collectively generates approximately €270M in revenue. In 2024, the firm closed its acquisition of Groupe SBM, adding electrical and civil engineering capabilities. Sénevé does not run a formal ESG program, citing limited team and portfolio-company capacity, though it frames its investment ethics around long-term cycles and loyalty to partner executives. Sénevé's architecture as an independent sponsor is its structural differentiator. Unlike conventional buyout firms, the partners source each deal, assemble the capital stack transaction by transaction, and sit inside the governance of every portfolio company. This model gives them freedom from fund-duration constraints and alignment closer to a family holding company than an institutional fund, while their near-exclusive focus on management buy-ins makes them a rare specialist in France's generational ownership transfers.