Belgian consultancy Nova Reperta fuels growth ambition with investor
Belgian management consulting firm Nova Reperta has roped in an investment from French private equity group Ardian, with the aim of accelerating the firm’s international growth.
Nova Reperta was founded in 2011 in Brussels, and has since grown into an established consultancy in Belgium’s consulting industry. The firm (50 consultants; €15 million in revenues) helps its clients – companies in the financial services, mobility, energy and pharma sectors – with offerings including value creation, operating model transformation, customer centricity, operational excellence and agile transformation.
With the backing of Ardian, with over €100 billion of assets under management one of Europe’s largest investor groups, the consulting firm aims to expand its footprint. Ardian has taken a “significant stake” in Nova Reperta confirmed partner Filip Leflot, without disclosing the exact stake and financial terms of the deal.
One of the objectives drafted by the partner team is expanding the firm’s geographic reach. Nova Reperta currently operates in Belgium and the Netherlands (an office in Amsterdam), and plans to grow its teams in both markets, as well as expand into new European countries. Acquisitions will form an integral part of entry into new markets, said Leflot.
Another goal is to enlarge the firm’s digital expertise. “The focus of the investment will be on growing our digital transformation and data capabilities,” explained François Delfosse, co-founder and another of the firm’s six partners, adding that the firm is currently working on plans to “acquire a niche player in the digital world” to kickstart the ambition.
For Ardian, the investment is its first in Belgium. “We are pleased to have closed our first deal in Belgium,” commented Romain Chiudini, a managing director at Ardian.
Florian Dupont, a senior investment manager at Ardian added, “We are very impressed by the professionalism of the Nova Reperta team. We want to leverage our experience and network to help the firm achieve organic growth and pursue an active buy-and-build strategy across Europe.”
Last year, the private equity firm also took a stake in Argon & Co, a French-origin international consulting firm. The supply chain and operations specialist has since acquired R&G Global Consultants and purchased the UK procurement consulting team of Ayming.