BC

Butler Capital Partners

Paris, France·Founded 1991·

BuyoutGrowth Equity

·butlercapitalpartners.com

Butler Capital Partners is a Paris-based private equity and turnaround firm founded in 1991 by Walter Butler, a 1980 ENA graduate, former Inspecteur des Finances at the French Treasury (1983-1986), advisor to Minister Francois Leotard (1986-1988) and Executive Director at Goldman Sachs in New York and London (1988-1990). The firm received AMF approval GP-98015 in May 1998 and operated five funds over its 35-year history: Amstar (FCPR, vintage circa 1995), France Private Equity I (1996), France Private Equity II (1998, FF 1.1 billion, approximately EUR 168 million, one of the largest independent funds in France at the time), France Private Equity III (2005, USD 383 million, approximately EUR 300 million) and the evergreen Butler Industries holding (2009), which serves as the current family-office vehicle. Withdrawal of the AMF authorisation has been in progress since 2022, reflecting the firm's transition from blind-pool funds to family-office direct investing through Butler Industries, which reports approximately EUR 8 billion of cumulative deployed capital since 1991 across more than 40 portfolio companies and 50,000 jobs. Historical flagship deals include Ipsos (1997-1999, Euronext Paris IPO via the Amstar vehicle), Groupe Flo (2000-2017, trade sale to Bertrand Group, 3.2x return), Paris Saint-Germain FC (2006-2008, secondary sale to Colony Capital), SNCM (2006-2015, privatisation buyout), Anovo (2011-2015, trade sale to Ingram Micro for circa GBP 80 million) and Nextiraone (circa 2014-2021, trade sale to Fayat). Current Butler Industries holdings include Pierre Herme Paris (85 percent stake), three-star restaurant L'Ambroisie, maritime services group Seaowl, cabaret Paradis Latin, gastronomic ranking La Liste, digital tourism platform Come to Paris, the Brillane vineyard and Corum Asset Management.