Andera Partners, a leading player in private equity in France and internationally, is strengthening its presence in Belgium with the recruitment of Serge Prosman as Senior Advisor dedicated to the deployment of its Andera Acto strategy in Belgium. Serge’s role will be to identify and develop management buyout opportunities in Belgium alongside AnderaActo, the team specialising in the mezzanine financing of sponsorless transactions, whose European activity has accelerated sharply in recent years.
Boasting over 25 years’ experience in M&A at Deloitte, including 5 years in London, Serge Prosman has acquired solid expertise in sourcing and completing mid-market transactions in a wide range of sectors. He was a Partner for 17 years in the Corporate Finance Advisory practice, which he led for more than 10 years in Belgium.
Serge Prosman, Senior Advisor of Andera Acto: “I’m absolutely delighted to be joining the Andera Partners team, which is renowned for its professionalism and strong track record in the private equity market, to come up with sponsorless financing solutions in Belgium. Andera Acto holds a leading position in this segment in France, and there are numerous opportunities in Belgium to support managers and entrepreneurs wishing to acquire or strengthen their majority shareholding via low-dilution mezzanine financing and, where appropriate, minority equity investments”.
The announcement of this partnership comes at a time when Andera Acto is finalising the raising of its fifth vintage, Acto V, for which €800 million has already been subscribed. The deployment of a sponsorless strategy specifically for the Belgian market will enable the team to strengthen its local positioning, capitalising on attractive opportunities, and make Belgium a strategic development axis for the fund.
Stéphane Bergez, Managing Partner of Andera Acto and one of the two Managing Partners of Andera Partners, said “There is a growing demand in the Belgian market for sponsorless financing solutions as an alternative to traditional equity solutions, driven by entrepreneurs who want to take or keep control of their business and possess the means to achieve their ambitions while limiting their dilution in equity. The growth of Andera Acto in Belgium addresses both this need and the team’s ambition, and more broadly, of Andera Partners to consolidate its European presence by building on solid roots in key markets”.
There have been 13 investments in Belgium in the last 25 years, making it a key part of Andera Partners’ internationalisation strategy:
- The Andera MidCap and Andera Expansion teams recruited Hans Van de Velde as Senior Advisor for Belgium in 2019, at the same time as the opening of Andera Partners Antwerp office. Transactions by these teams in Belgium include Andera MidCap’s investments in Pauwels Solutions Group, Infra Group and Minafin, and Andera Expansion’s investments in Pennel & Flippo and Elan Languages.
- The Andera Life Sciences team has been investing in Belgian companies since 2001, including Agomab and Nyxoah. In 2022, the team recruited Jan Van den Bossche as a Partner to accelerate its presence in this market.
- More recently, in September 2024, the Andera Infra team, which specialises in financing green infrastructure, made an investment in the Belgian company Skysun, which manufactures solar panels for businesses.
This move in Belgium is part of Andera Partners’ broader international growth strategy and follows the opening of our offices in Antwerp in 2019, Munich in 2021, Milan in 2022 and Madrid in 2024.