Paris, 5 December 2018 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, today announces the arrangement of a Unitranche facility to support DLPK Group’s acquisitions of Sélection 1818 and APREP, which both took place towards the end of November.
DLPK Group is a major French player in the design and distribution of financial products for finance professionals, through its three specialized subsidiaries: Nortia (life insurance), Nortia Invest (securities accounts) and Haas Gestion (asset management). The group is majority owned by its management team, with BlackFin Capital Partners a minority shareholder since February 2018.
With the acquisition of Sélection 1818 and APREP, DLPK Group strengthens its position in the life insurance and securities accounts segments and becomes the leading distribution platform for financial advisers in France, with total assets under management of around €13bn.
Guillaume Chinardet, Head of Ardian Private Debt in France and Managing Director, said: “We were impressed by DLPK Group’s positioning, focused on the development of innovative financial solutions with a strong emphasis placed on quality of service and customer satisfaction, as well as the ambitions of its management team, who are determined for DLPK Group to become a leader in its market.”
“We are pleased to be able to help DLPK Group expand in a consolidating market. We are convinced that Sélection 1818 and APREP will benefit in full from DLPK’s expertise after their integration, and our Unitranche financing is particularly well suited to support the group’s expansion in the years to come” added Jean-David Ponsin, Director at Ardian Private Debt.
Vincent Dubois, chairman of DLPK Group, commented: “We are delighted to be working alongside Ardian, which has proven its creative and agile nature in providing a tailor-made financing solution, meeting the group’s needs perfectly under the framework of these two transformative acquisitions.”
Daniel Cohen-Sabban, Managing Director at BlackFin Capital Partners, added: “We are pleased to continue supporting growth at DLPK Group alongside Ardian, a long-term partner for BlackFin.”

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$82bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base.
Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.
Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 560 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of around 750 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Funds of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.
Ardian on Twitter @Ardian

Majority-owned by its management team, the DLPK Group counts companies specializing in the design and distribution of innovative financial solutions for financial professionals. It houses NORTIA (life insurance) and NORTIA INVEST (securities accounts), two distribution platforms which are exclusively dedicated to supporting financial advisors, as well as HAAS GESTION, an asset management company. The Group also holds a stake in the investment company NEXO CAPITAL.
Following the successive acquisitions of Sélection 1818 and APREP Diffusion, the DLPK group manages €13 billion in assets under management as of December 1, 2018.

BlackFin Capital Partners is a sector-focused fund, specializing in Financial Services across Europe. BlackFin’s investment strategy focuses on asset-light businesses in the financial services & technology sector, across continental Europe. Businesses of interest to BlackFin include asset-management, institutional and retail brokerage, distribution of insurance and banking products, both digital and through traditional channels, payments, processing, debt management and collection, fund administration, business process outsourcing and financial technology.
BlackFin operates as an active and influential investor, supporting management teams to take their businesses to the next level.
BlackFin manages €800m through two financial services growth / buyout funds and one FinTech focused venture capital fund.
BlackFin Capital Partners is a fully independent firm, run by its four founding partners who have worked together as managers and entrepreneurs in the financial industry for decades. Altogether the team consists of 25 experienced professionals operating out of offices in Paris, Brussels and Frankfurt.

Ardian Private Debt: Guillaume Chinardet, Jean-David Ponsin, Melchior Huet
DLPK: Vincent Dubois, Antoine Limare
BlackFin Capital Partners: Bruno Rostain, Sabine Mathis, Daniel Cohen-Sabban, Alexandre Chanteur
Legal and Financial Advisors (Ardian): K&L Gates – Mounir Letayf, Adeline Roboam