Patrick Herman

Alpha is an active, long-term manager which seeks to invest in medium-size companies in France, Germany, Benelux, Switzerland and Italy. The firm generally acts as majority shareholder, investing in companies in the consumer goods, retail, distribution b to b, construction and building materials, media, telecom, healthcare and business services sectors valued between €50-€500 million. In addition to majority stakes, Alpha also takes minority positions under certain conditions, investing from €20-100€ million as a lead-investor or alongside other partners. The firm seeks to invest in well-managed, family-owned companies or spinoffs of large groups which are market leaders and show healthy, recurring profits allowing both organic and external growth. They aim to partner with seasoned, ambitious and entrepreneurial managers, helping them devise the investee firm's business strategy. Alpha provides financial expertise, including transaction structuring, tax issues, debt push-down in international transactions and management incentive packages needed to complete complex cross-border transactions without interfering in day-to-day decisions. Because the firm limits their number of holdings, they work closely with managers, providing them with personalized guidance and establishing incentive packages to align their interests with those of management. Each investee company is monitored by the same person within Alpha throughout the lifetime of the investment.