AXA Private Equity announces it holds 16.7% of the share capital of Lusis, a software components and related services company providing critical systems used in finance, transport and telecoms.Philippe Préval, founder and chief executive of Lusis, said: “Lusis has arrived at a phase of development calling for the presence of a leading institutional investor among its shareholders. AXA Private Equity’s flexibility and industry knowledge and its policy to contribute to business growth were key factors in our decision to invite the firm as a partner”.

Lusis has deployed IT architecture solutions with large accounts based on particularly innovative software components that it develops and integrates. Since 2000 the firm has enjoyed sustained growth backed by a current workforce of some 100 employees located in France and Luxembourg. The company’s growth rates have been in double digits since it was founded while posting remarkably high operating margins. It holds a major cash pile to fund future development.

The transaction was carried out by AXA Private Equity purchasing part of the equity interest held by Fairchild Fund. Georges Cohen, Fairchild chief executive and former CEO of Transiciel, commented: “I have always believed in this company and its management team; Fairchild remains a major shareholder and I believe that the arrival of AXA Private Equity will help us step up a gear”. Laurent Foata, an AXA Private Equity director, said: “The experience and maturity of the management team convinced us to take the decision to support Lusis in its new phase of development backed by underlying strengths to ensure profitable growth.”

About AXA Private Equity

AXA Private Equity (www.axaprivateequity.com), an AXA Investment Managers company, is a leading global private equity house. The firm provides investors with funds across the full range of private equity offerings: buyouts, expansion capital, venture capital, risk capital, co-investments, infrastructure, mezzanine and fund of funds - primary, early secondary and secondary. The firm manages over $25bn of assets on behalf of large international investors. Backed by offices in Paris, Frankfurt, London, Milan, Vienna, New York and Singapore, AXA Private Equity stands out from the competition through the expertise of its teams and its broad international reach. The firm maintains a constant focus on transparency, performance and sustainable profitability.

Contact: Flore Larger, flarger@image7.fr  +33.1.53.70.74.25

About Lusis

Founded in 1999, Lusis (www.lusis.fr) is an IT services company focusing on the transformation of critical information systems. Lusis provides consulting, solutions and assistance to companies with a vital need to develop the essential parts of their information systems. The solutions are perfected based on software components designed and developed by Lusis (Tango range). The company serves four major business sectors: banking (automated payment systems, financial transactions and risk management), finance, transport and services. Lusis has enjoyed stable and constantly profitable growth in the last few years.

AXA Private Equity buyer: Laurent Foata
AXA Private Equity legal advisor: Florian Cadier
Financial advisor: Diagnostic & Investissement (Yann Marchand)