In a challenging market environment, the asset management firm has secured the necessary funding to continue investing in SMEs in the tourism, healthcare, and inspection sectors.
The Appart’City accommodation network, the Belambra and Odalys holiday residences, and even the Thoiry Zoo… These well-known players in the tourism industry have one thing in common: they have all had Ekkio Capital as a shareholder, even if it dates back more than ten years for some of them. This private equity specialist, a subsidiary of Groupama until 2013, has thrived in the tourism sector, as well as in healthcare, the ICT segment (testing, inspection, and control), and more recently, sustainable development. To further its growth, the asset management firm, led by Jean-Marc Sceo – and whose shareholders include Luc Chatel, former Minister of National Education – needed to close a new fund dedicated to investing in the capital of SMEs. According to our information, Ekkio Capital, here advised by Reach Capital as placement agent, has achieved its goal: the final closing was quietly completed at 160 million euros a few weeks ago.
The vehicle, named Ekkio V, is the same size as its predecessor, which was raised in 2018. After a a marketing period lastingmore than two years, the results are mor than respectable for the investor, given the current market conditions. Private equity fundraising is slow, and managers, despite their efforts, are not always successful. Convincing institutional investors and wealthy families (limited partners, or LPs) to commit is proving difficult, as many are currently complaining about the low returns on their investments in this asset class. “Ekkio’s fundraising was not made easier by the manager’s exposure to tourism, given how turbulent that sector was during Covid-19,” a financial source observed. “Ekkio suffered from the performance of its third vehicle (a fund raised in 2013, editor’s note) ) before more recently benefiting from a kind of ‘comeback’ that convinced investors to provide their support.” Ekkio did indeed manage last year to sell the medical equipment sterilization specialist Apperton to Evolem, the family office of Bruno Rousset (founder of the insurance broker April). At the end of 2024, it also sold to ADP the stake it held with another fund, Montefiore, in Paris Experience Group (tourist reception).
The new fund has already invested a quarter of its capital. Ekkio has reinvested in the Calicéo spa network, in which it had been a shareholder with another fund since 2018. According to our information it has also acquired a controlling stake in Novaem, a biofertilizer producer.
Source: Xavier Demarle 06-05-2026
