Etienne Colas appointed Managing Director within LBO France’s
Operating Team
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Paris, September 10 2013 – LBO France today announced the appointment of Etienne Colas as
Managing Director within the Operating Team.
Pivotal to the organisation, the Operating Team was put in place by LBO France to help support their
underlying portfolio companies and to generate value creation. The team’s mission is to structure the
value creation process by working with the portfolio company’s management. This is executed by way
of three key elements: strategy, organisation and operational optimisation plans – and, performed at
each key stage in the company’s development.
Composed of three members, the Operating Team reports directly to LBO France’s Executive Board.
Etienne joins Guy Latourrette, former CEO of La Redoute and Devanlay-Lacoste, and Gilles Taldu,
Partner and Member of LBO France’s Executive Board, and former manager of Thomson and
Capgemini.
An engineer by training, Etienne brings a wealth of experience in both consulting, industry and private
equity acquired during his time at McKinsey, Ventech, Thomson and AlixPartners. Etienne has most
notably developed an expertise in improving operational performance in industrial B-to-B and
technology sectors.
Etienne Colas, Managing Director of LBO France, declared: “Out of all French private equity funds,
LBO France is one of the first to create an Operating Team with high level, dedicated resources. Our
team, composed of very complementary and operational members, is an additional asset made
available to managers to help them develop their strategy and maximise value creation.”
Robert Daussun, CEO of LBO France, declared: “Etienne’s appointment is a sign of the importance
we place on the operational support given to our investments. We are delighted to welcome someone
of his calibre to strengthen our investment actions and to structure the operational value creation
process of our portfolio companies.”
Biography of Etienne Colas
Etienne began his career in 1987 with Bellcore in the United States, before joining McKinsey in Paris
in 1992, where for 10 years he specialised in operational improvement in industrial B-to-B sectors.
Between 2001 and 2005, Etienne Colas was a Partner at Ventech, where he was responsible for
investments and portfolio management in Technologies and Communications. He subsequently
joined a division of Thomson as General Manager, before joining AlixPartners in 2007 as Senior
Director, working on operational due diligences for private equity funds and leading the
implementation of turn-around and operational performance plans.
Etienne Colas, 53, is a graduate of Ecole Centrale Paris. He holds a doctorate from Berkeley
University in the United States. He also holds an MBA from INSEAD.
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About LBO France
LBO France, an independent private equity fund manager with €4bn under management, runs four
non-listed strategies through dedicated teams: (i) Mid Cap LBO White Knight funds, (ii) Small Cap
LBO Hexagone funds, (iii) Real Estate White Stone funds and (iv) Credit opportunities Altercap funds.
www.lbofrance.com
Press Contacts
LBO France
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Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Ari Levine
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Aliénor Miens
Tel: +33 (0)1 53 32 84 77 - Mob: +33 (0)6 64 32 81 75 - [email protected]