Nine years ago Hervé Schricke was sponsored by La Poste, France’s national post office, to launch Xange Capital as chairman.
Xange’s second fund raised €60m ($78m) in its first close last year, from multi-corporate backers including Post Bank as well as La Poste. Schricke helped create Xange Private Equity through the acquisition of the venture activities of bank ABN Amro France.
Schricke said: “I was chief executive of Natixis Private Equity until 1999, and the business was a pan-European sponsor of firms like Duke Street and Quadriga, managing €1.2bn.”
He added: “I left Natixis to start a business, Meilleurtaux, which is a mortgage broker on the web. I joined the founder when he had the initial idea. It was backed by one of the funds Natixis introduced the founder to in 1999 and first in the market. I became a managing director in operations. It
remained the leader in the market – from having 15 competitors within six months, and now there are two or three players in the market. It is known as one of the best VC exits in France.”
After his work at Meilleurtaux, Schricke said French Post contacted him to help them launch Xange Capital.
Schricke has also previously worked at Natixis Group/Crédit National, in roles including head of corporate banking and managing director of the bank subsidiary. He was also head of capital markets for another banking group. Schricke was chairman of France’s VC and private equity trade body L’Association Française des Investisseurs pour la Croissance from 2010 to 2012.
Lessons from the top: Schricke said: “I was a bit reluctant about corporate venturing when I joined. I thought corporate venturing was a trick. Yet you raise funds and have the expertise of the groups and the people who are with it. These people are very skilled and knowledgeable and you need their expertise. We bring a lot of value-add, which is different when you are just a financial investor. Yet it is better to have the mix of two worlds, where the manager is also motivated by the financial performance of the fund. This allows you to be both independent and connected to the corporates.”