1996
Creation
Our company was born in 1996, when Claude Bébéar, chairman of AXA, asked Dominique Senequier to create a private equity arm for the insurer. He promised to invest one franc for every two she raised from outside investors. Bébéar’s pledge fostered a huge determination in the young company to win clients and turn them into long-term partners by delivering excellent service and outstanding investment performance. AXA Private Equity launched with a $100m French Buyout fund and two external clients. Two decades later, Bébéar recalled : « I gave her 25 million, I think it was in Francs, and she achieved incredible growth. »
From 1996 to 2013
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1997
The company expanded steadily into new asset classes and built its international network. The Buyout team is created in 1997. -
1998
In 1998, our Growth activity was launched to help ambitious tech companies to grow in their competitive market. -
1999
In 1999 our Secondary Fund of Funds business was launched (today called Secondaries & Primaries). Set up to trade portfolios of private equity holdings, it is now the world’s biggest Secondary Fund of Funds investor and Ardian’s largest activity. That year we also opened our first international offices in London and New York. -
2001
We laid the foundations of our “multilocal” strategy in 2001 with the opening of the Frankfurt office, today headed by Jan Philipp Schmitz. Creating seasoned local investment teams in the major European centers has proved a key competitive advantage.
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2002
In parallel, further investment activities were launched: the Expansion team in 2002, followed three years later by Infrastructure and Private Credit. Today, Ardian is Europe’s biggest infrastructure investor and a leading provider of private debt to European LBOs. -
2005
In 2005 we also launched our Co-Investment activity. -
2007
The network expanded in 2007 when we added a local investment team in Milan, led by Nicolò Saidelli, giving us unrivalled reach in France, Germany and Italy. -
2008
In 2008, Dominique Senequier signalled the company’s increasing focus on responsible investment with a public pledge to share, wherever possible, part of the company’s capital gains on exit with employees of the company involved. Our focus on social impact intensified two years later, with the launch of the Ardian Foundation, dedicated to promoting social mobility.
Independence
Acceleration 2013 onwards
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2015
Achieving independence opened a new chapter that saw our growth rate accelerate. We moved into Real Estate, led today by Stéphanie Bensimon, and also in 2015 opened offices in Madrid and San Francisco. Sustainability was a growing focus, highlighted by continued recognition from the UN Principles for Responsible Investment, widely seen as representing the investment industry’s benchmark when it comes to sustainability. -
2016
We celebrated the company’s 20th anniversary in 2016 with a major expansion plan, targeting North America for our next phase of growth. In the following three years, we have launched North American Buyout and Infrastructure funds, expanded in Asia with offices in Tokyo and Seoul and opened our first South American office, in Santiago. -
2020
In 2020, Ardian’s 700 staff are responsible for $110bn of assets, confirming our place among an elite global group of private investment houses and emphasizing Ardian’s ability to make an even bigger difference. In addition, Ardian launched Private Wealth Solutions to increase focus on Private investors and provide them with investment solutions tailored to their unique needs. Moreover, the Ardian Foundation took a significant step towards expanding its social impact by focusing on early childhood development. -
2021
In 2021, Ardian and FiveT Hydrogen launched Hy24, the world’s largest clean hydrogen infrastructure investment platform. Hy24 combines Ardian’s world-class infrastructure investment expertise and asset management capabilities with FiveT Hydrogen’s extensive access to and experience with the hydrogen value chain. -
2022
Ardian launched its Real Assets Debt activity in 2022, aimed at managing funds and mandates related to financing pan-European real estate projects. Additionally, Ardian became the first European-rooted partner to support Ownership Works, demonstrating the company's commitment to promoting employee ownership. This partnership reflects Ardian's ongoing efforts to drive positive change and make a meaningful impact in the industries and communities. -
2023
In 2023, Ardian extended its global footprint with the opening of new offices in Abu Dhabi, Montréal, Stockholm, and Amsterdam, to strengthen its presence in these locations. Ardian now has 19 offices worldwide. 2023 was also the year Ardian celebrated its tenth anniversary as an independent investment house. We launched Nature-Based Solutions, a strategy dedicated large-scale Nature-Based projects focus on carbon removal. We also expanded into semiconductor investment, with the launch of ArdianSemiconductor.
