ICG Invests in Astek, Leading Player in Consulting Services

"We are convinced that Astek is best placed to benefit from the structural growth of the digital transformation markets, led by a high calibre management team and we look forward to helping Jean-Luc and Julien deliver their vision."

ICG, the global alternative asset manager, today announced that its European Mid-Market team (“ICG Mid-Market”) has become a financing partner of Astek (“Astek”, “the Group” or “the company”), a leading player in digital, engineering and technology consulting services headquartered in France.

Founded in 1988, Astek is active in more than 20 countries, supporting blue-chip organizations across industrial and tertiary sectors in the implementation of their digital transformation journey and deployment of their products and services. Over the past 10 years, the company has experienced substantial growth, through both organic development and strategic acquisitions.

This partnership will see ICG leverage its expertise in the IT consulting and digital services spaces to support Astek in its growth trajectory by continuing to deliver best-in-class results to clients across sectors and source the best talents locally, with strongholds in France, Canada and Poland, as well as growing presence in the Middle-East and with off-shore capability. As an established consolidation platform, Astek will pursue further strategic acquisitions to develop new expertise and penetrate new markets. ICG will work closely alongside Astek’s founder Jean-Luc Bernard and management team led by CEO Julien Gavaldon, who will remain majority shareholders.

Jean-Luc Bernard, Founder of Astek, commented:

This partnership is a recognition of our strategic positioning on attractive market segments, as well as a milestone towards our strategic objectives. With the reinforced support of our financial partners and a clearly defined growth strategy, we are ready to continue to seize strategic opportunities and pursue our global expansion.

Julien Gavaldon, CEO of Astek, commented:

ICG’s arrival as a long-term partner confirms our strategic positioning and validates the growth trajectory we have initiated. It underlines the strength of our fundamentals and our ability to implement our ambitious vision. We are determined to maintain our growth momentum and to remain our customers’ partner of choice in their digital transformation.

Laurent Catry, Managing Director at ICG, commented:

We are delighted to partner with Jean-Luc and Julien on this new phase of growth for Astek. We have been impressed by the trajectory of the Group, which underpins Astek’s positioning as a key strategic partner for clients, building on a very efficient operating model. We are convinced that Astek is best placed to benefit from the structural growth of the digital transformation markets, led by a high calibre management team and we look forward to helping Jean-Luc and Julien deliver their vision.

ICG was advised by Vulcain (M&A), Proskauer Rose (legal), Arsène Taxand (tax), BCG (commercial), EY (financial), KPMG (tax, regulatory, HR), Bots & Cie and Seedcloud Advisory (technology).

Astek was advised by Natixis Partners (M&A, financing), Hogan Lovells (legal, tax), 8Advisory (financial, tax, regulatory, HR) and Accenture (commercial, ESG).

For further information please contact:

ICG

Catherine Armstrong
T. +44 20 3545 1850
Email: [email protected]

Maisie Le Masurier
T. +44 20 3545 1624
Email: [email protected]

Astek

Claire Doligez
T. +33 6 84 90 21 69
Email: [email protected]

Charlotte Le Barbier
T. +33 6 78 37 27 60
Email: [email protected]

About ICG

ICG provides flexible capital solutions to help companies develop and grow. We are a leading global alternative asset manager with over 35 years’ history, managing $86.3bn of assets* and investing across the capital structure. We operate across four asset classes: Structured and Private Equity, Private Debt, Real Assets, and Credit.

ICG develops long-term relationships with its business partners to deliver value for shareholders, clients and employees, and uses its position of influence to benefit the environment and society. ICG is committed to being a net zero asset manager across our operations and relevant investments by 2040.

ICG is a member of the FTSE 100 and listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: ICG). Further details are available at www.icgam.com. You can follow ICG on LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and Instagram.

* As at 31 December 2023

About Astek

Founded in France in 1988, Astek is a global player in engineering and technology consulting, present on all continents. With its expertise in various industrial and service sectors, Astek supports its international clients in the intelligent deployment of their products and services and in implementing their digital transformation.

Since its inception, the Group has built its development on a strong culture of entrepreneurship and innovation, and on the support and upskilling of its 8,400 employees who commit daily to promoting the complementarity between digital technologies and complex system engineering. The Astek Group achieved a consolidated turnover of 585 million euros in 2023. https://astekgroup.fr