09 September 2021

Sports Etudes Academy x 123 Investment Managers x Alter Equity

Fund raising

Secteur Education & Training

SPORTS ETUDES ACADEMY welcomes 123 Investment Managers to its capital alongside the founders, a new manager and Alter Equity3P which reinvests

Client Sports Etudes Academy

Sports Etudes Academy offers an adapted educational model where sport and schooling do not harm each other but are harmoniously combined. A pedagogical model nourished by benevolence and high standards, in the service of value and excellence. A model based on individualised and constant support.

Contrepartie 123 IM

123 Investment Managers is an investment management company specialising in private equity, founded in 2000 and currently managing €1.1 billion. With 20 years of experience, 123 Investment Managers has invested in more than 200 companies (mainly SMEs), particularly in the tourism, leisure, health, education and sports sectors, education and sport. In the sports sector, 123IM already supports more than ten companies, covering online and physical distribution, the manufacture of sports equipment and the development of new products. online or physical distribution, equipment manufacturing, the operation of sports/escalation halls, digital, or even e-sports. With LinkSport Capital, its fund dedicated to sports and health, 123IM aims to support the development projects of 100 million in sales and with growth potential in their domestic and international markets. 100 million and with growth potential in their domestic and international markets. LinkSport Capital benefits from a unique with a Strategic Committee made up of entrepreneurs from the sports and health sector and top athletes. athletes. Based on this experience, and convinced of the sustainable traction in the health sector, 123IM is delighted to SEA Group in its development project and to bring its experience in the education and sports education and sports sectors.

Contrepartie Alter Equity

Alter Equity3P was the first French fund to invest in the capital of unlisted companies whose activities are socially or environmentally beneficial to the general interest. Alter Equity3P was also the first non-listed investment fund asking its holdings to exercise their full responsibility towards their employees, the environment and society by committing to a CSR action plan. The combination of these expectations is symbolised by the 3Ps in the name of the two funds under management, standing for People Planet Profit. The first fund launched by Alter Equity3P raised €41.5m and supported 12 companies, including SEA. Two were sold: the organic make-up start-up BoHo Green (to the Léa Nature group, France's leading organic company) and the insect meal specialist Innovafeed (to the family investment fund Créadev and the Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek). The holdings stand out for their remarkable impact performance, with 2.4 million tonnes of CO2 avoided by the holdings since the fund's investment, which is a record within French private equity and a significant result in terms of France's annual emissions of 450 million tonnes. Alter Equity3PII, the second €110m fund raised by Alter Equity, invested in 6 hyper-growth companies, with a maintained ambition in terms of impact and renewed innovation. In particular, Alter Equity3PII was the first non-listed investment fund to require all its investments to carry out a carbon assessment and to open their capital to all their employees.

In order to accelerate its development, Sports Etudes Academy (SEA) announces the reorganisation of its capital with 123 Investment Managers entering the capital alongside the Founders, Managers and Alter Equity, which has been present since 2017 and is reinvesting. This operation is accompanied by the implementation of a new organisation with the arrival of Fabien Grobon as Chairman of the SEA Group, the Founders remaining in place with new functions.

Founded and managed by Pascal JULIAN and Thierry DERKX, the SEA Group is the leader in private sports studies in France, with more than 1,200 students per year on 5 campuses and a turnover of around 15 million euros.

Sports Etudes Academy SEA offers families an educational model that allows students to follow a high-level sports programme in tennis, football, horse riding, golf and basketball, in parallel with their personalised schooling, in classes of 8 to 15 students, from 5th grade to higher education, including high school. The schooling is organised either face-to-face or by distance learning.
The SEA group is also the educational partner of more than twenty sports federations (automobile sports federation, INF, etc.) and professional clubs (Paris Saint Germain, Olympique Lyonnais, Racing 92, etc.), guaranteeing personalised academic support for their champions and timetables adapted to the sports calendar.
adapted to the sports calendar.
Post-bac, SEA also allows students to reconcile their academic career with their passion, whether it be sporting, artistic or cultural. Under the Studency brand, SEA offers courses from BAC+2 to BAC+5, which can be followed as part of a sandwich course, an apprenticeship or initial training. In addition to its Paris campus, Studency is opening a campus in Toulouse in September 2021 and plans to open in Lyon, Bordeaux and Marseille. Studency also has a programme to prepare and integrate students into American universities.
The group has also developed other services combining the values of sport and intellectual development, with continuing education for professionals. The founding duo is now joined by Fabien GROBON who takes the position of CEO. A graduate of INSEAD, this former executive of the French Tennis Federation was Managing Director of the World Equestrian Games Organising Committee in 2014 and of the Stade Français Paris in 2015. He brings more than 20 years of experience in emblematic French sports organisations.
This operation marks the strengthening of the ESG commitment of the group, which aims to rapidly create an endowment fund in order to make its training courses accessible to as many people as possible and, in the long term, to become a Bcorp certified company.
Advised by the teams of Pax Corporate Finance, this transaction also allows the group’s key managers to acquire a stake in the capital. Thanks to the funds raised,
SEA will be able to complete its teaching offer, open new establishments and continue to develop partnerships with sports federations, professional clubs and companies.