Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute

According to the Rio Tinto press release, “Rio Tinto has received a binding offer from funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management, L.P. (Apollo) and the Fonds Stratégique d’Investissement (FSI) to buy a 61 per cent stake in Alcan Engineered Products (AEP), excluding the Cable Division. The transaction follows the successful divestment last year of the Composites division of the Engineered Products business. The terms of the transaction are confidential.

Under the terms of the transaction, Apollo would become the majority and managing shareholder in AEP with a 51 per cent stake in a new holding company for AEP, with the FSI holding 10 per cent. Rio Tinto would hold a 39 per cent stake.  Rio Tinto will respond to this binding offer following consultation with the relevant employee representatives.

Guy Elliott, Chief Financial Officer, Rio Tinto, said: “This potential sale of a majority stake to Apollo and FSI is in line with our strategy of divesting non-core assets of Rio Tinto Alcan. When this transaction is completed, we will have exited all downstream businesses, except Alcan Cable. We look forward to participating in the upside potential of AEP, both as a minority shareholder and key supplier to the business.”"

Read more: Rio Tinto Press Release

According to the press release, “ArcelorMittal executive Jean-Yves Gilet has been chosen to head France’s state-backed FSI investment fund, the Economy Ministry and state bank Caisse des Depots said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

Gilet will take the reins in September and replace outgoing Chief Executive Gilles Michel, who announced in June he was leaving for minerals company Imerys, the statement said. The FSI, 49 percent owned by Caisse des Depots and 51 percent by the government, was created in 2008 to protect so-called “strategic” French companies from the economic crisis.

Since then, the fund has bought stakes in companies including video games maker Ubisoft, dairy group Danone, entertainment conglomerate Vivendi and catering company Sodexo”

Read more: Reuters

According to the press release, “Cerenis Therapeutics SA (Cerenis), a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the research and development of novel therapies based on the metabolism of HDL (the “good” cholesterol) to treat cardiovascular and other metabolic diseases, announced today it has raised €40 million in the first close of its series C financing.

In this round €20 million came from the Fund for Strategic Investment (FSI) with an additional €20 million coming from the existing investors: Sofinnova Partners, HealthCap, Alta Partners and TVM Capital, EDF Ventures, OrbiMed and DAIWA Corporate Investment. This third round of financing for Cerenis (Series C) will fund Phase II development of the lead Cerenis program, CER-001, an HDL-mimetic for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and to support the development of other new HDL therapies.

This round of financing brings the total capital raised to date by the company to €107 million. Jean-Louis Dasseux, co-founder and CEO of Cerenis said: “We welcome the FSI as a new investor and are very pleased to have such strong support from our current investors. This support recognizes the progress made to date in the development of Cerenis in the field of HDL, the promise of the pipeline of products, and the quality of Cerenis’ team.”"

Read more: Press Release

By Alexia Tye

Gilles Michel, the CEO of the FSI, will shortly step down to take up a new position in the private sector.   He looks back over what the FSI has accomplished in the short period since its creation in January 2009.

Defending what may seem to be a premature departure, he feels that since he set up the FSI under the orders of the President of the Republic – the fund was then literally himself and a mobile phone – the fund is solidly in place and has achieved much.  With a team of 30 (11 professionals plus mostly state-appointed senior management), 110 investments have been executed, and the FSI has found a firm footing in the French economic landscape.

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Alexia Tye is a Partner at AddVenture, a private equity advisory firm.