A French-Tunisian private equity fund called “co-location” will be officially launched on February 5, 2016 in Tunis by the Tunisian Consignment and Deposit Fund (CDC) and French public investment bank (Bpifrance).
With a capital of EUR 20 million (i.e. 44.54 million dinars), this fund based in France falls in line with the perspective of development of economic relations between Tunisia and France, with a co-location approach, according to a source from the CDC.
The French-Tunisian co-location fund, with a duration of 12 years extendible 2 years, aims to “support the funding of Tunisian or French SMEs with strong growth potential and wishing to expand their activities in Tunisia and France but also in Africa, Middle East and Europe.”
“It will also allow Tunisian and French SMEs to consolidate their development projects and their competitive positions on the long term, which will promote balanced and lasting commercial and industrial partnerships and later help share concrete actions in some specific market areas.”
Companies supported by this fund will have direct access to European and African markets and proximity to the Middle East.
To select PMEs, economic and financial criteria should be sought such as “innovating companies with at least EUR 1 million of turnover, run by dynamic managers and seeking capitals and international support.”
Tunisian and French companies in which the fund will also invest show an ability to develop and expand relations with partners from the two countries by different modes of cooperation (industrial, trade, research and international development).
