France’s pension reserve fund has awarded €420m in unitranche private debt mandates to Eurazeo Global Investor, Eiffel Investment Group and Zencap Asset Management.
The Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites (FRR) said the three dedicated mandates would finance French small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies, with an initial term of 12 years.
The allocation is intended to provide the FRR with exposure to private debt while supporting the development of French companies and the wider economy, the fund announced in a statement.
The mandates will focus on long-term financing for companies’ growth, ownership-transfer transactions and development, with almost all of the companies targeted expected to be headquartered in France, it added.
The FRR said the investment formed part of its objective of combining financial performance with economic impact.
The mandates will also be subject to ESG requirements, including the systematic use of ESG margin ratchets. These mechanisms link the financing terms provided to companies to their achievement of predefined ESG targets, the statement added.
Earlier this summer, the pension fund selected Swen Capital Partners and Flexstone Partners to manage some €500m worth of private equity fund-of-fund mandates.
