Carso is reorganizing its capital. The group announces a majority stake acquisition by the ArchiMed fund, alongside Capza, Siparex, and the founders. Eric Sarfati, formerly of SGS, succeeds Bruno Schnepp as CEO.
A specialist in analytical control services in the health, water, environment, agri-food, and pharmaceutical sectors, Carso has announced a restructuring of its capital around the transatlantic health-focused fund ArchiMed, which becomes the majority shareholder. French venture capital firms Capza and Siparex complete the funding round alongside the group's management and founders. Carso was previously owned by EMZ Partners, Raise, Siparex, Unigrains, and Étoile Capital.
This shareholding restructuring was driven by Bruno Schnepp's desire to step down from the group's operational management. However, he retains a minority stake in Carso and will keep a privileged seat on the board of directors. Éric Sarfati, former CEO of SGS France, a global leader in inspection, verification, testing, and certification, will succeed Bruno Schnepp as Chairman and CEO.
"The arrival of new shareholders will allow us to develop Carso in new territories and strengthen its position in its historical markets, namely the environment, agri-food, and pharmaceutical sectors. It's a great challenge that we will take on together, with all the teams!"says Éric Sarfati, the new Chief Executive Officer of Carso.
Over the next five years, Carso and ArchiMed, with financial partners Capza and Siparex, plan to double the group's current annual revenue of over 200 million euros.
As the leader in environmental analytical services in France, Europe's most developed market, Carso is ideally positioned to consolidate its sector."states Antoine Faguer, partner at ArchiMed."
This is not the first investment in Carso for Antoine Faguer and Managing Partners Vincent Guillaumot and Denis Ribon. The three of them formed the core of the "global healthcare" team at the private equity firm 3i, which held a minority stake in Carso between 2005 and 2011. Working closely with Bruno Schnepp and his managers, they had contributed to six acquisitions for Carso.
Photo: Éric Sarfati, president and CEO.
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