Eurazeo Capital invests in Questel alongside IK Investment Partners, RAISE Investissement and the management team

As previously announced, Eurazeo Capital, alongside IK Investment Partners, RAISE Investissement and the management team, will invest in Questel to acquire 100% of its share capital. Eurazeo and the IK IX Fund will each invest an initial amount of nearly €200 million and together will hold a majority stake. Definitive financial information will be disclosed once the transaction has been completed.

Questel is a major intellectual property solutions provider that operates worldwide, developing SaaS products and an automated brand services and patent filing platform. The company works with close to 6,000 clients, including a number of large multinationals, offering end-to-end collaborative patent and brand management solutions across the innovation and intellectual property cycle, from invention, through to filing and renewal.

Employing approximately 900 people across 30 countries throughout the world, Questel is renowned for its technological expertise and has expanded considerably since 2018, when the IK VIII Fund first invested in the company.

Eurazeo Capital, IK Investment Partners and RAISE Investissement will support the Questel management team to pursue its growth strategy to gain a foothold in new markets, regions and services, while maintaining its strong technological focus. Questel will be able to take advantage of Eurazeo’s strong international network, in particular in the US and China. Supported by its shareholders, Questel will continue to pursue its ambitions, complete acquisitions and strengthen its range of SaaS solutions and services provided internationally.

The Eurazeo China Acceleration Fund, which was set up to support Eurazeo’s investments in French and European companies that are active in sectors with high growth potential in China in order to accompany them in pursuing this strategy, will also invest in Questel.

Charles Besson, CEO of Questel, said: “IK and Raise have supported and trusted us entirely to develop Questel. The group has tripled its size in less than three years and continued to enrich its software and services offering. We are delighted to welcome Eurazeo as a new shareholder for this new chapter.”

Marc Frappier, Managing Partner of Eurazeo and Head of Eurazeo Capital, said: “We are delighted to start working with Questel throughout the next stage of its development. This investment is a perfect example of Eurazeo Capital’s strategy to support high-potential tech companies to grow and expand internationally. We strongly believe in Charles Besson and his team, their ability to innovate and the quality of their solutions. And when combined with the expertise Eurazeo Capital is able to provide, we are sure Questel will continue to develop in a very high growth market.”

Dan Soudry, Managing Partner at IK, and adviser to the IK VIII and IK IX Funds, said: “We are proud to support Charles Besson and his team to bolster Questel’s position as the leading provider of intellectual property solutions. Over the last two years, the group has tripled in size, driven by strong organic growth and a dynamic acquisition strategy that has helped Questel diversify its range of products and services and extend its geographic footprint. We firmly believe Questel demonstrates considerable growth potential and we are very pleased to continue the journey and support its management team for the next chapter.”

Mathieu Blanc, Managing Partner at RAISE Investissement, said:”We seek to support talented entrepreneurs over the long term and through every stage of their development. Charles Besson and his team have done remarkably well over recent years to make Questel one of the world’s leading provider of intellectual property solutions. Having worked with them since 2015, we are extremely proud today to renew our backing of their ambitious growth plan for a third time.”

For further questions, please contact:

Eurazeo
Pierre Bernardin
Head of Investor Relations
pbernardin@eurazeo.com
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 15 16 76

Virginie Christnacht
Head of Communications
vchristnacht@eurazeo.com
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 15 76 44

IK Investment Partners
France:
CTCom
Sibylle Descamps
sibylle.descamps@ct-com.com
Tel: +33 (0) 6 82 09 70 07

International:
Maitland/AMO
James McFarlane
jmcfarlane@maitland.co.uk 
Tel: +44 (0) 7584 142 665

RAISE Investissement
Charlotte Doyen
charlotte.doyen@raise.com
Tel: +33 674791846