Small Cap Buyout Investments

Iliad

In April 2003, AXA Private Equity announced that it had bought a minority equity stake in Iliad, a fixed line and internet telecoms service operator. This Small Cap Buyout transaction was driven by the vision of the founder and director of the company, Xavier Niel, by the company's rate of growth and by its margins, a rare event for a company that escaped from the Internet bubble. A year later, on the strength of the success of its Free Box, Iliad was floated on the French stock exchange and the value of our investment was multiplied by more than eight.