Eurazeo Aktie

Welcome to the Eurazeo 2026 Half Year Results Presentation. Today's conference will be hosted by William Kadouch-Chassaing, Co-CEO; and Christophe Baviere, Co-CEO. [Operator Instructions]

Now I will hand the conference over to the speaker. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much. Good morning. Thank you for joining this call. Christophe and I are pleased to welcome you to our 2026 half year results presentation. Our presentation will be in 3 parts. First, I will share with you the financial highlights for H1. Second, Christophe will focus on fundraising, commercial dynamics and asset rotation. Third and last, I will detail our financial results. We'll then be available to take questions.

We published a good set of results for the first year -- for the first half of 2026, showing further progress in the execution of our strategic plan. Let me share the key highlights for H1. First, asset management posted another semester of solid growth. Fundraising stands at EUR 2.3 billion with some notable closings in PE and debt, confirming the attractiveness of our franchises to clients. We continue to demonstrate our ability to scale our flagship strategies. Christophe will come back to this in a moment.

And as a result, we continue to grow our earnings with management fees from third parties up 14%, EBITDA growth of 20% and strong growth in operating cash flows as we grow our third-party fees and performance fees start to materialize more meaningfully. Second, our balance sheet return has announced positive value creation in H1 with a growth of plus 2.3% per share. Realizations continue to be on plan with a good pipeline of exits expected for the rest of 2026, allowing us to reshape the business model as per our strategic plan. Third and last, we are on track to deliver the announced EUR 2.3 billion in shareholder return by the end of 2027.

We have already returned EUR 1.3 billion since the beginning of 2024. In 2026, we have already distributed a dividend per share increasing by 10% and executed half of the share buyback program for the year.

Thank you, William. Let's now dig into details. And as you know, the development of an asset management platform starts with good fundraising. Eurazeo raised EUR 2.3 billion from clients in H1 2026, ahead of last year's already strong performance. This is, we would say, particularly encouraging given the challenging environment for fundraising. No doubt, this success highlights the quality of Eurazeo's franchises as well as the relevance of Eurazeo's positioning as a European mid-market growth and impact-focused investment firm.

Our strategy is to be the go-to investment firm for this deep and growing investment universe mid-market companies all over Europe. We have had several marquee successes in H1 which, in particular, the final close of EPD VII in direct lending, the final close of ESF V in secondaries, the first close of PME V in buyout, and successes also in thematic funds such as Kurma Biofund IV and SME II. And Wealth Solutions channel continues to deliver despite a more competitive and challenging market backdrop.

One of the keys to Eurazeo's success in the development of its asset management platform is its ability to scale existing flagship franchises. Let me guide you through a clear example of how this works. Look at direct lending. The size of our more recent program, EPD VII increased by 70% at EUR 5.5 billion, driven by its leadership position and strong performance of the strategy focused on the lower mid-market.

Look at secondaries. Our fifth program more than doubled at EUR 2.3 billion with growth both on the institutional flagship fund and in wealth and mandate solutions. Note that these 2 programs -- for these 2 programs, demand has exceeded the cap, which is quite unique in current market conditions for fundraising. Look at the lower mid-market buyout segment. Eurazeo is currently raising its fifth vintage, PME V, and we have good traction among investors, thanks to the strong performance of the previous vintages. The first closing of this fifth vintage has already exceeded the final closing of the fourth vintage with, I would say, plenty of room to grow further.

In our strategic road map, William and I outlined our ambition to further expand our client franchise through the internationalization of the LP base. And in recent years, we have extended our coverage in Europe, in the Middle East and in Asia. And the results are there around 70% of our inflows are now coming from outside of France. And a growing share of this fundraising is coming from outside of Europe with repeated successes all around Asia as we are signing new clients in China, in Korea and in Japan. Our Wealth Solutions franchises also continues to grow at a steady pace with now EUR 6 billion of AUM, a 17% CAGR for the past 5 years.

Yes, our flagship evergreen fund, EPVE 3 surpassed EUR 3.7 billion in AUM, thanks to the positive inflows. But in parallel, we are actively working with our partners to distribute our new international evergreen funds all over Europe.

For the rest of the year, Eurazeo will pursue on its fundraising on the back of a solid and diversified pipeline, both on the institutional side as well as on the wealth segment. As you can see, our funds are at different stages in their fundraising. We continue to raise on our flagship, Eurazeo Growth IV and PME V. And we have many thematic funds on the road like EPBF, SME II, Future Industries III, EZORE and ETIF II.

Let me now turn to deployments and realization. Eurazeo deployments amounted to EUR 1.9 billion in H1, down 17% from the same period of last year with transaction reflecting an expanding pan-European investment approach. Main deals including Denmark, EPBF -- Eurazeo through the EPBF team acquired T1A, a leading electronic recycling firm. In Germany, Eurazeo through PME V bought Nextron, a leading cybersecurity software firm. And in France through Capital, Eurazeo invested in Netco, a conveyor-based maintenance business and in the infrastructure we financed Lauralu, active in demountable structures.

Eurazeo is well placed to continue to grasp opportunities with EUR 8.3 billion of firepower out of which EUR 6.6 billion of third-party money. Realizations -- Realizations stood at EUR 700 million. Eurazeo has had several exits, notably with Fermax and Ex Nihilo in buyout. Memo Therapeutics in biotech. We maintain Rendesco, LegalPlace in Venture and several exits in Secondaries. Regarding H2 2026, we are looking at a solid pipeline of exit across strategies.

I now hand over to William, who will get you through our results.

Thank you, Christophe. I will now take you through the financial results for H1 indeed. Let me start with the asset management activity. Overall, as you can see on the chart, AUM growth and fee-paying AUM growth illustrate the dynamism of our asset management business. Total assets under management were up 9% in H1 relative to the year past, surpassing EUR 40 billion with third-party AUM up a strong 13%, which is above market. Fee-paying AUM were up 6% at EUR 29.4 billion with third-party fee-paying AUM growing also a strong 13%. Management fees stood at EUR 213 million in H1, up 6% from previous year on a comparable basis.

Third-party management fees were up 14%, with a strong performance of private markets, up 18% and a better performance of iM Global Partner at plus 2% like-for-like. The growth of IMG was driven by positive net inflows, particularly in active ETFs. Balance sheet management fees were down 14% as we voluntarily limit our new commitments in our funds and execute our exit plan. Of note, our private market fee rates remained stable at 120 basis points.

With a steady growth of our third-party assets and fees and the managed downsizing of our balance sheet, we are well on track to reduce the weight of our balance sheet in the funds below 20% faster than initially planned. You may remember, we had announced that target back in November '23 in our Capital Market Day. At the end of 2023, our balance sheet represented 31% of our total AUM. AUM from the balance sheet now represent only 22% of total AUM. Likewise, management fees from the balance sheet represented around 31% end of 2023 and are now down to 23% in H1 2026.

Logically, the combination of growth in third-party management fees strict cost discipline and a more meaningful contribution of performance fees leads to a jump in the cash flow of our asset management business. This is how the model works. As you can see, fee-related earnings are up 11% in H1 with further margin improvement. EBITDA is up 20%, reaching EUR 100 million. Finally, operating free cash flow from the asset management activity reached EUR 54 million, up 75% from a year before. So in a nutshell, the contribution of the asset management activity, excluding financial costs and other income is up plus 38% in H1 on a like-for-like basis.

As mentioned, we continue to be very disciplined on costs with OpEx up 3% only year-on-year. Financing costs at IMGP are down significantly, especially in H1 '25 -- as H1 '25 figures were impacted by negative ForEx impact. This also reflects the reduction of the indebtedness at IMG Global.

Let me now turn to the investment company. As announced, we returned to a slight positive value creation in H1 2026 at 0.3% organically or plus EUR 20 million. Buyout, we posted plus 0.2% in value creation. We continue to have positive earnings momentum in our portfolio companies. We, however, remain disciplined on multiples given the context in some sectors, notably in SaaS and business services. Growth equities posted a positive value creation of 1%, driven by further progress in our new vintage EGF IV. In real assets, we enjoy a good momentum in infrastructure and in operational real estate. We adjusted down some specific valuations in direct real estate to reflect multiples and cap rates.

On a per share basis, our portfolio is up 3.3% to EUR 105.4 per share in H1. Our share buyback program thus added plus 2% on the portfolio value in H1. So let me come back to the fundamentals behind this performance. As said, overall, H1 2026 was another illustration of the quality of the underlying assets in spite of a mixed macro environment with some headwinds in Q2 from the Iran war. First, in buyouts, which represent 57% of the total value of the portfolio, you can see revenues and EBITDA were up, respectively, 4% and 7%.

Going into details, April and May were slower arguably, but we have been seeing green shoots in June and July. Second companies in our growth portfolio, which represents 22% of the portfolio value posted an aggregated revenue growth of 22% with our largest companies outperforming. The EGF IV portfolio continues to perform strongly, above plus 50% revenue growth. Third, in our real assets portfolio, which accounts for 14% of Eurazeo's portfolio value, EBITDA in the hospitality business was up 6%, while infrastructure continues to perform very well.

You will find in the appendices of the presentation, and we will do that regularly, further details on the balance sheet performance and components and in line with our deep dive of April -- sorry, April 29.

Turning now to the investment company P&L. As mentioned, we returned to positive value creation in H1 on the portfolio at plus EUR 20 million. IMG had a positive impact of the fair value of the partners, in particular with the sale of its stakes in RBA. Combined with lower internal fees, cost discipline and lower financial expenses, the IC contribution improved by nearly EUR 300 million compared to H1 2025 to reach minus EUR 69 million. Turning now to the group P&L. With a stronger contribution from asset management activity and an improvement in the investment activity, net result group share improved by EUR 300 million to be close to 0.

Let us finish with portfolio rotation and capital distribution. We announced and realized around EUR 300 million in exits pertaining to the balance sheet during H1 2026, corresponding to 4.3% of last year NAV. We have a good pipeline of exits for H2, as said by Christophe, with some promising processes already underway. This should put us on a path towards our historical average in realization. During H1, we continue to prove our ability to sell assets with an uplift above NAV. We realized the exit of 2 buyout companies early in H1, at more than 2.5x cash-on-cash each and together with an uplift of 150% on our last mark.

We sold a portfolio of Spanish hotels at NAV, and our Kurma franchise, our biotech franchise, sold the company with 150% minimum uplift with further upside depending on the achievement of certain milestones. Let me stress again that for us, this is the best proof point to assess the quality of our portfolio valuation approach and processes. As I mentioned at the beginning of the presentation, we continue to deliver on our capital return promise. Since our Capital Markets Day, we distributed EUR 1.3 billion through EUR 600 million in ordinary dividends and EUR 700 million in share buyback. We already acquired 14% of our own shares through H1 2026.

Looking ahead, we plan to continue to increase our ordinary dividend and to buy another 11% of our own shares by the end of '27, maximizing our legal limits. Depending on the price at which we will do the share buybacks, we will consider adding extraordinary dividends to complement our distribution to shareholders to reach our targets. So in a nutshell, we had a strong set of results in H1 '26. We continue to grow fast our asset management and to transform our business model. Our balance sheet is back to positive value creation, and we continue to deliver on shareholder return.

We believe this momentum should drive a re-rating of our stock. And as a reminder, let me just come back to how with Christophe and team, we see Eurazeo's fundamental value drivers. We are first a fast-growing asset manager, profitable and cash generative. Based on undemanding multiples, it should be worth up to EUR 40 per share. We have a balance sheet portfolio net of carried tax and debt that is worth EUR 105 per share rounded. And we have a net debt that should be deducted of EUR 21 per share. Hence, our calculation with this total value between EUR 115 and EUR 125, leaving significant upside for the current share price that is for you to judge.

Thank you for your attention. We can now open to the Q&A session.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Nicolas Vaysselier from BNP Paribas.

The first one, I want to check a bit extraordinary dividend potential. On my tracking, assuming today's share price, you would be at about EUR 1.1 billion of share buyback since 2024 at the end of '27. The CMD had highlighted a target of EUR 1.5 billion. Do you say that the extraordinary dividend could be as high as EUR 400 million to make up for the gap?

Then secondly, exit activity has been muted in H1 on the balance sheet side. You expect an acceleration in H2. I wanted to know if you view the current pipeline as enough to deliver the -- roughly 20% asset disposal pace that you're trying to aim every year?

And thirdly, you also flagged potential for improving investment returns in H2. However, I've noticed that the growth figures you're quoting in the press release when it comes to EBITDA growth and revenue growth in buyout seem to be slowing a bit versus prior reporting period. So what makes you confident that returns can accelerate? Is it that you expect market -- I mean, the multiples to start increasing, reflecting strong markets we're seeing right now? Or do you think the macro environment improves from here?

Thank you, Nicolas. So I'll take these 3 questions. First, on the distribution, what we say here is that we are committed to portion on the dividend -- ordinary dividend, I think we have a track record of increasing it by 10% or above in the past years. I won't commit, of course, for next year, this is a Board and general assembly decision, but expect that we will continue to strive growing the dividend per share. Then we are committed to execute the 25% de-equitization of the company through the share buyback and the cancellation of shares. We've already completed a significant portion of it.

When you look at the math, I mean, clearly, there is a factor which needs to be taken into consideration, which is the average price at which we buy shares. So what we are saying here, effectively, I think your understanding is correct, is that conceptually, we will compensate the shortfall in euro amount for the share buyback with other means, i.e., dividends. Exit activity, and I hope it's clear, it's not -- please reiterate your question. But again, EUR 2.3 billion and 25% the equitization are the key commitments we take.

Exit activity, I think it's very much as we have said. I mean, arguably, the environment is not good. And I think everyone would tell you that. We've been able to sell what we had in mind to sell in H1, and we've launched a number of processes for H2. So yes, we are confident that we will continue to execute on our exit plan and converge towards the historical average. I mean, I think we have now established a track record of being able to rotate assets a bit faster than market, which translates into DPI, by the way, in the funds, which are almost in every category in the quartile one range. So we'll see how it goes, but we reiterate we have a rather good pipeline for the second half.

Investment return on the investment company, let me be a bit more specific. I don't think we've said we see an increase in H2. We said from 2026 onwards, we see a gradual improvement in value creation after the adjustment we had to do in the past 2 years, partly because some companies we had to write down, partly because we had to factor in the new elements in the market, AI impact on SaaS multiples and some companies more impacted by some macro events. Now we said we have a strong portfolio that continue to perform reasonably well. So we're going into a gradual improvement rather than a marked improvement. And this is how you see that.

So we are resuming with value creation in other words, and we see the pattern as being more or less dynamic depending upon the multiple environment. Fundamentally, on the buyout company's performance, there is a very good element into it, which is that it is very broad-based. Companies across the board, including, by the way, in SaaS, do perform well. There are a few companies which had more difficulties and now have been marked down quite significantly. So this shouldn't be an issue for the future. So that's how you can see the dynamic on the earnings.

In other words, what I'm trying to say is that we are not betting on multiples. We continue to mark up assets primarily, I should say, even solely on the earnings growth.

The next question comes from Oliver Carruthers from Goldman Sachs.

I just have one follow-up question from your final point. Did I just hear you correctly on this returning to positive value creation? I don't want to put words in your mouth, but it sounds like on the buyout side, this is a broad-based, I guess, flat to up dynamic in the first half. So it's not being driven by uplift from a couple of big assets, it's broad-based. And it just sounds like the language you're using is that we're kind of at the end of this multiyear -- multiple adjustment period, which would be a bit of an inflection point. But I just wanted to check I understood that correctly.

And then sorry, the second question, just on the acceleration in realizations that your -- in terms of strong pipeline for the second half, could you just comment on the types of exit processes that we should be looking out for just to understand the sensitivity to market dynamics?

And maybe you comment on the pipeline, which is going to be a short answer probably. But on the value creation, let us be very cautious there. Yes, I think we take the word of inflection point because there were a few companies we have adjusted -- remember the 29th of April presentation where together with the team, we really showed where we had made some adjustments and there were a few companies that are now -- have been put to 0. There was the bulk of the adjustments. By the way, some of it -- some of these companies can recover value a bit in the future because some of them have better trends, but that's not taken into account as of yet.

And then we said we also have taken into consideration some multiple compression in some areas, namely software. And then we had said at the time, by the way, that we have not started adjusting these multiples just beginning of '26, but there was a story already starting in '25 for us. Looking forward, the reason why I'm cautious is because we live in a very uncertain environment, you can see that we have an improvement, as I said, in the pattern of growth, both revenues and EBITDA in buyout in June and July after reasonably slower Q2 because of what you know. We'll see how it goes for the rest of the year.

So inflection point, yes, but that's going to be a gradual improvement in '26, given what I've just said. But the good thing is we are able to sell always with an uplift to the last NAV, and we continue to have a broad-based decent to good performance on the underlying metrics. On realizations, Christophe will take the question.

On realization, yes, you are right to point out that the EUR 700 million is a 6-month picture. It doesn't reflect our goal for the 12 months of 2026. As we said previously, we are aiming for our historical yearly realization over the course of the plan. And we have no bad news on this because we have a quite healthy pipeline of exit candidates and several monetization processes are being initiated. We are using the full range of what can be used. We are obviously working on some plain vanilla exit, but we also use dividend recap and we can use, in some cases, continuation vehicles or tools like that to reach the 2026 target. But as you know, we cannot comment on any specific transaction. But again, we continue to aim for historical average level, and we will reach 15% to 20% of our previous year's NAV rotation.

The next question comes from Arnaud Palliez from CIC CIB.

I have 2 questions. The first one is on real assets that are a bit lagging behind in terms of fundraising, value creation. So I would like to know what is, for you, the outlook for these real assets? That's the first question. And the second one is a more general question. Following rising inflation and interest rates, do you see any change in the outlook for your investment policy? So that's the 2 questions.

On real assets, we answer together with Christophe, just starting with the value creation. As you can see, the underlying metrics, we didn't give the number because it is on a small base. So it's double-digit on infra increase in revenues. And hospitality, which is the bulk of what we have in real estate, I mean, has a growth of plus 6%, as you can see. So I'd say the value drivers are pretty good. But we are in a real estate market that remains difficult overall. It's improving. I mean, let's say, it's stabilizing. So it's not the time where you really take on more value on assets.

And we have adjusted a few nonoperational assets in the portfolio, I mean, which has translated to this slight value destruction in real estate in the first half. So the overall -- I mean, the trend is clearly the operational trend is improving. On your comment on fundraising, maybe Christophe?

Yes. Well, as you know, on fundraising, it's based on -- we need the fund to raise and there has not been funds that were opened. But ETIF I, which is dedicated to infrastructure is now almost fully invested. And yes, we are preparing the next vintage. I remind you that ETIF I was targeting EUR 500 million, and we reached EUR 750 million, which is quite a good result for something that was a first time fund. It was not a first-time investing team, but it was for Eurazeo, the first time fund in infrastructure. So we have -- during the face of this fundraising, we have contacted a large number of LPs that were a little bit cautious on the first time, and we will benefit for the fundraising of the second vintage from this work that has been completed when was it 3 years ago -- 4 and 3 years ago.

And we already have a solid robust pipeline of not only re-upping investors but also investors that have seen the proof of concept of Fund I. I remind you that we have in infrastructure quite a differentiated approach. What we do is energy transition infrastructure. It fits with the DNA of Eurazeo, which is to be a mid-market player with probably north of EUR 750 million for the second vintage. We will still be a mid-market player in infrastructure. So this is the core of what we do. But again, what we perceive is that this mid-market investment universe all over Europe is deepening, and we see a lot of appetite for very differentiated investment strategies in the infrastructure world.

Now on your point on the investment strategy, as we have highlighted many times with Christophe ever since the Capital Markets Day, we do consider that our investment approach, the type of focus we have regionally, size of companies and sectors, the value creation playbook, which is a transformational value creation playbook aiming at increasing earnings as opposed to optimizing financial structures. And that's well suited to exactly the world you described world where the investment rates -- the interest rates are sustainably higher for longer. And so as you -- we will continue to prove -- to give you data points, but fundamentally take the view that at least 2/3 of the value creation of the companies we invest into across the board stem from earnings.

More rarely from deleveraging, sometimes from increase in multiples because at the outset, given that they are small companies, you tend to have a calibration, a discount to the reference multiples. And so that's -- we think the right approach, mid-market, Europe, transformational and focus on 5 sectors, which are financial services, healthcare, business services, tech, environmental solutions, which are driven by structural shifts in the global economies and societies. I mean that's the way we address from an investment case standpoint, the approach to that environment.

You'll see because we've put that back in the appendices, the type of leverage we have when we do a buyout or real estate. And you can see that we are pretty conservative on that. So there is clearly an increase in the cost of debt in the deals. I wouldn't say we are not sensitive. We are obviously sensitive to it, but to a limited extent, given what I've just said.

The next question comes from Nicolas Vaysselier from BNP Paribas.

Sorry for coming back. I just had a very technical question on the extraordinary dividend. In terms of timing, would you wait until the end of 2027, i.e., announcing it in 2028? Or is this something we can expect for next year?

Mechanically, Nicolas, and don't be sorry to come back. We like when we have questions. Mechanically, we will wait until we know what is the average price at which we would have executed a significant portion of the share buyback program before we decide the calibration of a potential extraordinary dividend. This would be here to compensate for the shortfall in euro amount. Again, the commitment is EUR 2.3 billion on the one hand and 25% the equitization on the other hand. So I mean, we have to -- now when does it happen? When do we think we have enough visibility, probably not before second half of '27.

Okay. So yes -- so payment should probably be '28 then?

I won't comment on that because it's -- obviously, there are a few things which are not in our hands. But what I want to comment on together with Christophe is the direction of travel, I think, I hope is clear.

The next question comes from Alexandre Gerard from CIC.

Four quick questions. The first one is related to private equity and to fundraising, which was weaker than last year. Can you help us maybe better understand that performance? And how does this performance compare to the market as a whole? Second question that's related to the net financial debt of the group, which stands at EUR 1.4 billion. At the end of the plan by the end of 2027, do you expect that net financial debt to be back to 0 where it was when you announced the plan in November of 2023? Or can you help us understanding where you see the debt of the group?

The third question is more or less related to that good set of results. It's related to AI. Do you think that AI might help you maybe continuing to increase your operating profitability, which has already progressed rather well. And my fourth question is related to M&A. Are you still studying M&A opportunities? The market continues to consolidate. So if we could have an update on that front.

We start with fundraising and...

Thank you, Alexandre, for your question. And yes, just the fact that private equity fundraising was weaker during 6 months is mainly due to the fact that the product offering for private equity was during 6 months less important than the product offering that was mainly occupied by private debt. But in the second half of this year, we will have again the tail end of PME V, and we are working right now on several potential opportunities to raise money in private equity, mainly through co-investment.

You know that fundraising can be organized through the fundraising of flagships, but you can also use co-investment and continuation vehicles to attract new categories of LPs that the sovereign funds are very large, most experienced pension funds in the world, they want to get access not only to good flagships, but also to direct investment opportunity. So this phenomenon was purely technical during the first half of the year. And again, we have completed the first closing. The first closing is always difficult, takes time to realize. But now that the first closing of PME V has been completed and quite at a good level, we will accelerate on this.

Net financial debt, I mean, we are operating at a moderate gearing -- and that's the intention of the group on a mid- to long-term basis. Let me remind you that we got an external rating from 2 ratings agencies now, i.e., Fitch and S&P. It's well into the BBB category. That's based on the cash flow pattern of our asset management improving and it's also based on our sustainably low gearing between 15% and 20% plus depending upon the period in time in the year. So that's what we intend to have. We intend to have a modest gearing over time and trend-wise, it goes to 0, but it's not necessarily a good policy to have it at 0.

AI, that's a broad topic, that obviously all our teams on the investment side, but I'd say also as an asset manager, our teams in the different transversal functions are very focused on. I'd say that for the companies we invest into, what the major focus is on -- is more to see if the revenue model is disrupted by AI or if the revenues can benefit from an early adoption of AI, particularly agentic AI that is extremely relevant for our growth teams, which invest a lot into agentic AI type of companies and even are able to rotate them in less than 1 year, as Cognigy, for example, in growth, but it is true, of course, for all our buyout companies that are more software oriented.

On top, of course, everyone is asking itself, including us, what we can do operationally to be more efficient, and we have identified a few areas. On M&A, Christophe, I guess we're going to do the same answer as usual. I think with Christophe, we've told you many times, we think we can grow this company organically at a pace that is above market. And this is what we do. We said we can transform the business model efficiently through that growth and the rotation and combined with distribution to shareholders, and that's what we do.

And we said we are not blind. We also see that the market is a market where there is more concentration on fewer players. This is the age of platforms. We think -- Christophe has reminded you of it that we see a potential place that is natural for Eurazeo, which is being the leading cross-asset platform in European market. In that context, could M&A help us wise M&A to go faster? Potentially, yes. So on top of what we do every day, and we also assess potential opportunities -- but as you can see, so far, we've been mainly focused on the organic growth.

And I would say, in the past, just to complete what William has said -- in the past, yes, it is true that Eurazeo has been able to successfully integrate some acquisition. What is Eurazeo PME today has been in the past mostly private equity, and it has been a successful integration. And part of what we do today in private debt and secondary comes from the acquisition of Idinvest. So I think that, yes, we have demonstrated that should an opportunity occur, we will be able not only to acquire it, but also to successfully integrate. And as William was mentioning, the core of our strategy today is to be attractive, we want to be attractive, should we have an opportunity -- we want to be selected also by these people to be a place where we can accelerate.

The next question comes from Julian Dobrovolschi from ABN AMRO-ODDO BHF.

This is Julian from ABN AMRO-ODDO. I have 2 questions, please. One on the value creation and the other one on the exits in the balance sheet portfolio. To begin with the one on value creation, I think over the last few years, value creation was held back by several legacy assets and valuation and resets as also flagged today. I'm just wondering, still -- are there still any material assets in the portfolio where you see downside risk to carrying value over the next quarters?

And the other one is on the exits. I'm appreciating your comments on the H2 exit outlook. I wanted to understand the exit seasonality you expect in 2026. And you mentioned in the conf call today that the realized value of the portfolio in H1 was pretty much on plan and you expect realizations to be on plan again in the second half, but also that would imply about 2x acceleration over the H1 level. So I was actually wondering why there should be such a seasonality in the exits? And is the slow pace in H1 driven by your decision to wait for better pricing? Or do you see any buyers still pushing back on the valuation expectations that you have?

Okay. Let's start with value creation. And I hope you won't take it the wrong way, but let me just reiterate that at any point in time, when we do valuation, we factor in everything we know. There is no case where we would hold on marking down should we know already that the company should be worth less than what we published it is worth. So just quoting the obvious. But your question is nevertheless very legitimate. Do we see -- where do we see the risk? So we are very comfortable with the valuation we have. It doesn't mean that there couldn't be a risk as there are, by the way, opportunities. If I start with the opportunities, what we see, for example, is that the software companies continue to have a very good performance.

So we don't see the disruption in our numbers that everyone talks about. When the market -- and we see that if the market starts to realize that it's been too sanguine on the valuation of SaaS companies, maybe there is an upside here in the multiples. Let's see. By definition, we are a bit cautious on the environment because of the Iran war. I mean that has created some dysfunctionalities in the macro that we've seen in Q2. Trends improving June, July, we'll see how it goes. So I'd say the risk are most of macro risk and specific risk on some companies that we would know are in danger of losing value. By definition, in the portfolio, you have some standard deviation in the performance, but it's rather macro, both upside and downside.

On the exit, I do the same answer as Christophe has just done on the private equity fundraising. We have a number of assets that are disposed of every year pertaining to the balance sheet that is not a big number, right? We're talking about 6, 7, sometimes up to 8. So you can't say there is a seasonality that you can forecast based on statistical evidence. It's the same for fundraising. As Christophe said, you may be on the road with 2 debt flagship and 1 real asset flagship and no PE, but that doesn't mean that you're bad in PE fundraising is just because you don't have a product on the slate at the time. So this is what basically explains the pattern of our exits.

We knew when we did the comments in the frame of our full year results that the processes that had been launched end of 2025 would yield a certain amount in H1, whilst other processes, maybe more numerous processes or bigger processes would be launched rather towards Q2 this year. And that's how we confirm what I've just said. So -- but again, seasonality doesn't make much sense to us given the relatively small numbers of items we're talking about here.

I think we have no further questions on the phone. We have 3 more minutes. So I will try to take a few questions from the script. There are actually 2 on the fundraising. One is more about the potential for this year and maybe beginning of next year after the successful close of ESF V, EPD VII and the first close of PME V, is it reasonable to assume that fundraising for the next 12 months will be substantially lower than the previous 12 months. There's also a mention of EGF IV, which has done a first closing and we're wondering what's next for this one. So that's, I would say, the first question. And I'm taking the second one as well. It's a question on the evergreen wealth funds. Why do you not seem to be experiencing the same performance and redemption issues as other platforms? And what is the growth potential for the evergreen family?

Okay. Thank you very much. So as you know, we don't give guidance for the full year at this moment of the year, but we will be more precise during our Q3 trading update. But no, it wouldn't be reasonable to be pessimistic on the fundraising of Eurazeo. Yes, the environment is what it is. Yes, some investors are slower than before to take their decision. But again, we have robust and diversified pipeline. It's based on flagships. It's also based on thematic fund, and we have plenty of room to continue to deploy to diversify, to expand our LP base.

So we don't give guidance, but we are reasonably optimistic at this moment of the year, given the fact again that our fundraising will be based on flagship, thematic funds, CVs, co-investment, mandates, Wealth Solutions and internationalization. And if we go -- if we move now to the evergreen issue, which has been, without any doubt, something volatile during the first half of this year. Let us remind you that evergreen vehicles at Eurazeo are quite specific. First of all, they are bought through unit-linked life insurance contract. At 73%, EPVE is held through unit-linked life insurance contract.

Unit-linked life insurance contracts are a very stable component of savings. EPVE 3 is a French product. So it is the French legal structure. So it is subscribed through French life insurance contract and also in the Benelux, but it is mainly used by final users that are very stable in their behavior in the savings. That's the first answer to your question. The second answer to your question is the fact that we have currently 20% of cash in this vehicle. We have always managed this vehicle, and the past performance that were in average close to 7% have always been realized with this very generous proportion of cash.

But we don't want to avoid the issue regarding the increase of redemption of usage of gates. And we have currently, if you look at the first half of this year, the percentage of redemption in percentage per quarter is at 1.6%, which is still much lower than the inflows. The inflows that we receive are more than the double of the quite stable outflows that we naturally face. And for the first half of this year, the performance is already at 3.5%. So we are back to this historical performance that we have been able to achieve, which is close to a quite stable and robust 7% per year. And yes, we are very optimistic that the evergreen vehicle at Eurazeo are a very stable component of our business activity.

Thank you, Christophe. We have 2 other questions, but not enough time. So I will revert back to the investors who are asking the question. There was one on deployment. We can address this and one on the valuation of the asset management company, and I will revert back to investors on this one, how we are managing the multiples.

Thank you, Pierre. So on behalf of all the team, Christophe and myself would like to thank you for attending this conference. And obviously, as we are end of July, for those who are taking your holidays, we wish you a nice break. Otherwise, we'll be in town in the next week. So if you have questions, please direct them to us. Do not hesitate. Thank you very much. Bye-bye.

Thank you very much. Bye-bye.

The live conference is now over. You may now disconnect.

Welcome to the Eurazeo Q1 2026 Trading Update Presentation. Today's conference will be hosted by William Kadouch-Chassaing, Co-CEO. [Operator Instructions] Now I will hand the conference over to the speaker. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, and thanks to all for joining this call. I'm pleased to welcome you all to our Q1 2026 trading update. And as usual, let me walk through the key highlights for the quarter pertaining to first, fundraising, AUM and management fees; second, asset rotation; and third, the underlying performance of the on-balance sheet portfolio. We will then be available to take questions.

Let's start with our fundraising activity. We had a strong quarter in Q1 2026 with EUR 1.1 billion raised during the period, an increase of 11% versus last year. This performance was driven by, first, strong inflows in private debt with more than EUR 850 million raised in Q1, nearly twice as much as Q1 2025. This strong performance comes on the back of a top quartile track record of our direct lending funds and our leading position in the mid-market category.

Second, the continued momentum in the secondary strategy, which makes up for the majority of the EUR 200 million raised in equity during Q1. Our wealth solutions channel continues to grow nicely with AUM up 16% year-on-year to reach EUR 5.7 billion. Inflows were similar in Q1 2026 as in the same period last year. Our evergreen funds, EPVE3 enjoys positive net inflows with redemptions in Q1 well below 1% and in line with historical average, in fact, a tad lower. We are still in the rollout period for our new evergreen funds in the prime line, which should contribute more significantly in the coming years.

As we highlighted with Christophe during our first year -- full year results, sorry, our pipeline of fundraising for 2026 is solid and diversified, both on the institutional side as well as on the Wealth Solutions segment.

Let me give you an update on where we stand based on Q1. First, as we highlighted, we have 4 flagships, which are expected to fundraise in 2026. We continue to benefit from the ongoing momentum in our direct lending fund, which will shortly be announcing a final close. We should shortly be announcing a first close of PME V, the lower mid-market buyout fund managed by the Elevate team. We confirm that this fund has good traction, benefiting from the strong performance of previous vintages. In equities, we continue to have good inflows in secondaries, as highlighted before, and we are on the road with our growth equity fund on the back of a successful first closing and strong performance overall.

Second, we are on the road with 5 thematic funds. In equity, EPBF, an impact Article 9 fund, which already had a successful first closing, as you know, as well as Eurazeo Future of Industries in Venture, which is currently fundraising. In debt, also an Article 9 fund focused on decarbonization financing. And in real assets, 2 funds, is already in operational real estate is already on the road, and we are launching a second vintage in sustainable infrastructure after a successful first vintage. In Wealth Solutions, as we announced, we are rolling out our new evergreen products, and we are initiating another growth fund for wealth investors.

As we continue to fundraise dynamically, we posted the increase in both our AUM and fee-paying AUM. Total AUM stood at EUR 39 billion as of 31st of March '26, up 7% year-on-year with AUM from third party up double digit at plus 14%. Fee-paying AUM were up 5% year-on-year with fee-paying AUM from third parties double digit -- growing double digit at plus 13%. Third-party recurring revenues from asset management posted solid growth logically, while we continue to voluntarily decrease the contribution pertaining to our balance sheet. Hence, management fees from third parties are up 10%, excluding catch-up fees and ForEx. Management fees from third parties in private markets specifically are up 14% year-on-year, in line with fee-paying AUM. IMGP revenues were down 1%, excluding ForEx pro forma of the sale of the wealth management activity at the end of 2025. IMGP had a positive momentum from most of its partners and from its own funds, especially managed ETFs, but was impacted by market effects and some outflows of its managers specializing growth equities in the U.S. Management fees related to Eurazeo's balance sheet came at EUR 25 million. They are down 16% due to disposals and lower balance sheet commitments in fund, in line with the strategy announced at the end of 2023.

Regarding asset rotation, group deployments were up 17% in Q1 2026 relative to last year, totaling EUR 915 million. Group realizations in Q1 2026 amounted to EUR 550 million, a doubling from EUR 220 million in Q1 '25. We were active both in private debt and in private equity. Of note, our dry powder from third parties continues to grow. It is up 9%, and we think we are well placed to grasp investment opportunities.

Let's now focus on the current trading of our underlying investment. As a reminder, we recently hosted a workshop on our balance sheet portfolio commenting on its key characteristics, its performance and the main lines. Both the link to the webcast and the presentation can be found on our website.

In the first quarter, the companies in the balance sheet portfolio continued to perform well operationally in spite of an arguably more uncertain environment. Companies in the buyout portfolios grew 6% year-on-year with a broad-based revenue growth across geographies and sectors. Companies in the growth portfolio posted a plus 22% average growth, an acceleration from previous quarters with the largest lines in the portfolio performing particularly well. The most recent investments in Growth IV fund have seen average sales growth also accelerate at over plus 60%, 6-0, confirming the very good momentum. In real assets, hospitality revenues were up 6% in the first quarter sales of companies in the sustainable infrastructure portfolio are also up dynamically by 36% on average. At March 31, 2026, investment portfolio carried on the balance sheet was valued at EUR 6.8 billion net and as usual, is not valued during the quarter. The portfolio value per share was EUR 102 at end of March 2026 consequently. We are now available for your questions. Thanks for attending this call again.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Nicolas Vaysselier from BNP Paribas.

Just 2 quick questions from my side. The first one is on the fee-paying AUM dynamics. The jump from one quarter to the previous is pretty big. And I wanted to know which asset class has been driving this. I suspect it's private debt. And then despite this increase in fee-paying AUM, the overall fee margin stood at 1.10 versus 1.2 on my calculation from the previous quarter. So yes, I'm definitely interested in understanding the mix dynamics for this quarter in the fee-paying AUM growth. And then my last question, you mentioned those new evergreen products that are about to hit the market. I'm curious to see what traction you expect from them in terms of fundraising in the near term, given that flows in wealth remain pretty consistent, but I suppose are quite skewed to your big evergreen fund.

Nicolas, I think we didn't hear fully the second question.

And also third question. Could you repeat, sorry?

Yes. Sorry, it's just you're about to hit the market with 2 new Evergreen products, right? I'd like just to have a bit of a color on what you expect in terms of fundraising traction for those in the near term? Because I suppose what you raised in wealth mandates so far remains heavily skewed to your large EUR 3.7 billion fund.

Okay. Yes. Thank you. Sorry because we had on our side, a bad connection. Let's start with fee-paying AUM. So what we can say, I mean, you're right to point out, it's fairly dynamic and above market growth, we think, as we commit to deliver. It is rather broad-based. So we have double-digit fee-paying AUM growth, both in private equity and in private debt. As you know, the dynamic is a little different for PE. It relates to commitments for private debt. It is linked to also the pace of deployment. But I mean, it's very consistent across the board between PE and private debt. Overall fee margin, just to remind -- and thanks again, Nicolas, for asking that question. To remind everyone, the 110 basis points, which is a healthy rate, is associated to the third-party management fees. At group level, we are 120. So for us, it's fairly stable. The difference between group level and third party stems from the fact that the balance sheet is rather skewed towards private equity and less so towards private debt. It also has within private equity, less exposure traditionally to secondaries. So as a result, there is a mix effect that makes up for a difference between the average balance sheet fees and the overall yield on third party. But it's fairly stable and the difference again stems from what I just explained. It may vary slightly within years or between years because of mix effects. But what we experienced, I guess this is the implicit question behind your question is that the fee rates hold well.

Evergreen, we have a good traction as it relates to converting or onboarding distributors outside of France for this new Evergreen fund, which are LTIF funds, one pertaining to private debt, the other one pertaining to secondaries in different countries in Europe. And also, we have some traction in France. Now as we said with Christophe a few times already, it will take time before the machine works at full steam because, first of all, we had to shape the product, get the authorization. We are starting now to warehouse some assets in these funds. You don't market Evergreen funds to individual clients unless you have already some inventory. We are onboarding distributors. And so we don't expect, to your question, big flows in the short term. We expect some flows in '26, and then we expect the thing to grow gradually and accelerate in the years next.

To your point on our EPVE 3 flagship, it continues to perform well in terms of gross collection. And as I said before, because we still have low redemption rates, in fact, as I said, a tad below the average of 25 for the first quarter, the net collection continues to be positive. Now we are also aware that this is a product that we have really to make sure that you educate well the public as to its features because there is a bit of noise stemming from the U.S.

The next question comes from Alexandre Gerard from CIC CIB.

I have 3 questions. The first one is related to fee-related earnings. I mean, to performance fees related to fee-related earnings as the rotation of the balance sheet normalizes within the historical range, 20%, 25%. And if we take normative assumptions regarding cash-on-cash multiples, what would be the size of the performance earnings? Can you remind us what we can expect in terms of performance fees compared to fee-related earnings? This is my first question. Second question is regarding the share buyback program. So you bought back 1% of the capital during the first quarter. Can we expect the same for the coming quarters? I mean, 1% per quarter? Or do you think that maybe accelerating the share buyback program given the fact that the share price is trading on a steep discount to its fair value might be interesting? And the last question is regarding fundraising. So I know that you don't give guidance for the year. But if we look at all the initiatives that you mentioned on Slide #, I think, 3 or 4, all the funds on the road, can we maybe not have a precise estimate of a very wide range in terms of fundraising for the year in terms of what you expect? Can we multiply by 4 what you raised during the first quarter? I mean, this is a rough and the vague estimate of the fundraising. So these are my 3 questions.

Thank you very much, Alexandre, for these questions. On the performance fees, I think things develop as we had said, but you invite me and thank you for that to reiterate the guidance we had given or at least the midterm objective we had given. So let's start with that. The midterm objective is that by 2027, I mean end of 2027, we should have converged given the maturity of funds and the pace of rotation towards performance fees representing roughly 10% of the third-party management fees -- the third-party revenues. So that's positive because that would translate into a nice increase in the cash flow, but also it's positive because it means that the company will remain very centered on predictable management fees in its revenue composition.

Now to your point on what's happening more short term, clearly, we have a number of funds that are now approaching the hurdle when they can recognize the -- where we can recognize from an accounting standpoint, the performance fees. So we are on a positive trend consistent with what you've said -- you've seen in 2025, which is an increase, and then we should continue on that pace towards what I highlighted.

Share buyback. The program is structured in order to enable us to be constantly in market. So assume that 1% each quarter is a basis. We always evaluate if we should accelerate or not in case of more weakness on the stock price. But fundamentally, if you take that assumption, you don't take too much risk.

On the fundraising, I like the way you phrased your question in a very smart way, which is to say, we are aware that you don't give guidance, but please give me a number. So I won't give a number.

I mean a rough estimate or there is a wide range. You know, it would be a helpful one I think, yes.

What we can say is, as you say, we have a positive trend. Nevertheless, that quarterly fundraising is not even. It's not linear growth that you would expect. I mean there are quarters which are much more dynamic than others. But overall, what I'd like you to keep in mind that we are continuing our journey on a positive trend after a record year 2025. So we'll be more specific in the next quarters when we see also where the environment lead us. But just keep that positive message that we have a diversified product offering with a number of announcements we will do in the next weeks and months pertaining to either the final close of EPD VII on the debt side or the first close of PME V. We continue to fundraise also on the thematic funds and some of the other flagships. So that's all what I can say now. I don't want to qualify more the number, but we have a good start of the year. And I didn't mean to be frustrating, Alexandre, but I want to be cautious and keep to our guidance policy as we have it every year.

Do we have any more questions on the line? Maybe I can ask a question that I have on the chat then. A question on IMGP from Mathias. What is the expected trajectory on IMGP fees going forward?

So as we have seen in Q1, IMGP is fundamentally dependent on its ability to generate net new flows, net new money, but also market effect. Q1, we had positive inflows net of everything because we had strong inflows in the IGP proprietary products like managed ETFs that I said. We had strong inflows in many of the underlying partners and asset managers, and we had outflows in a few of them, particularly one I mentioned, which is specialized on growth equity in the U.S.

So we should continue that trend of net positive flows for the rest of the year, absent, of course, major shocks or further major shocks. And then the market effect has started to improve in April. It was negative for the first quarter. So let me be a bit more cautious on that one. So all in all, as you can see, that's a platform that has some potential to do better than in Q1, pending, of course, market effects, ForEx and the environment. That's all what I can say now. I would add also one point, which is that IMGP has also a tradition to manage very well its costs. So Q1 is not a moment where we talk about profitability and cost. But I think there is some flexibility there to adjust and protect the profitability depending upon the revenue generation.

Thank you, William. I don't know if there's any more questions on the line, operator? So thank you very much for attending this call, and have a good day.

Have a good day, everyone.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, welcome to our combined General Meeting of Eurazeo. As each year, we are able to gather the shareholders, the members of the Supervisory Board, senior management and the teams of your company.

During this meeting, we will be presenting the results, the Group's ambition, and we will be able to answer your questions before we vote on the resolutions.

I will now call on Mr. Olivier Merveilleux du Vignaux and Mr. Emmanuel Russel, who are both corporate officers and representing the largest number of voting rights to be [ tellers ], and I'd like to thank them for agreeing to do this. I will now present Mr. Gabriel Kunde, who is going to be the Secretary of the General Meeting. And I will hand over to him to present the agenda of the meeting.

Good morning, shareholders. I wish to greet the members of the Supervisory Board sitting in the first row as well as the statutory auditors, members of senior management. Your AGM will be broadcast live. It is there on the Internet.

We'll go through the usual formalities. You can see the agenda and the interventions. You'll find the -- I'd like -- please do -- we will not be reading out the whole of the report. The AGM has been convened further to convening notice, all completed within the regulatory time lines, published on the [ Ballour ] and the Figaro as of the 30th of March and in the Figaro daily newspaper.

All the shareholders of the company who are holding registered or bearer shares have been duly informed and convened. The financial statements, the report, all the documents that have to be made available to the shareholders have been provided consistent with regulatory and legal requirements and are with the bureau of this meeting.

I recall that in order to comply with the CSR policy of the Group for the past few years, we no longer print a hard copy of the registration document for all of the shareholders. A digital version may be consulted using the QR code that's displayed in the room and hard copies can be sent out on request.

An attendance sheet has been drawn up and signed by each member of the AGM. The list will be finalized at 10:30, at which point I will give you the final quorum.

A combined AGM can legally be held. And I will now let you enjoy a short film on the highlights of 2025.

[Presentation]

Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, first of all, welcome. I'm here with all the members of the Supervisory Board, and we're very happy to see you once again this year. Each general meeting is a special moment where we step back, where we share the facts as they are and where we look forward clear-mindedly and where we're also able to express our convictions with determination.

Our AGM is being held at a complex time for the world, for Europe, for our economies, for our companies and for all of us, shareholders and investors. As we all know, the balances are shifting. The cost of capital has changed. The markets are more demanding, more volatile, whereas technological, energy, industrial, environmental transformation is accelerating.

And it's against this backdrop that there are 2 ways of behaving. Either you are an onlooker or you adjust while sticking to your course. Eurazeo decided some years ago to make a strategic choice, which I can summarize as follows. One, build a private asset management platform focused on European mid-market caps. And in order to do so, to optimize further our operating performance to a company with commitment, the development of companies in which we invest over time, and to respond transparently and efficiently to the expectations of our investors.

Number two, to accompany the development of our platform by gradually reducing the size of our balance sheet. And finally, the third thrust is to return capital to our shareholders.

We maintain these choices. Our asset management activity is growing. It's being structured and it's improving in terms of profitability. In 2025, Eurazeo raised a record amount of EUR 5.5 billion and gained new market share. Our Group is continuing to broaden its European client base. It is attracting new investors on other continents, in particular, in Japan, Korea and the Middle East.

In an increasingly constrained market, polarized towards key major players, this is not a fortuitous success. It is a marker of the trust and relevance of the strategy borne by our teams, which is becoming increasingly visible. Our teams have also succeeded in stepping up asset rotation on our balance sheet and achieving successful disposals in an increasingly nervous market regarding M&A.

Now this volume is not up to our expectations, but let us know, let us be able to appreciate the good performance that we have been able to achieve. Looking beyond the figures, the key point is that Eurazeo has not only reorganized; Eurazeo has changed in nature. And I see this every time when I meet the team, this One Eurazeo that we were talking about recently has now become a reality. A state of mind that is fully turned towards our clients driven by controlled processes and strengthened independence in our management.

Not everything is perfect, far from it, and I'm not here to deliver an idealized vision. There is, as you know, one disappointment, which is the share price, which does not, at present, reflect the value that we feel we have created and that we will continue creating. We, therefore, have to be clear on some of the reasons for this.

Part of the assets of the Eurazeo balance sheet, due to previous investment cycles, is slow in being -- producing value. This legacy is penalizing the visibility of the transformation -- the in-depth transformation of our Group. These constraints are themselves part in a tense market environment amplified by the geopolitical, economic situation and the technological transformation that is holding back liquidity.

This is a phase, a stage in the slowdown. The fundamentals of the companies in which we have invested are robust. Our Group, as you can imagine, is going to patiently work with discipline. And this choice, which is the choice of continuity, reflects the faith of the Supervisory Board and the management team in the Eurazeo strategy. Our Group is able to depend on stable share ownership, be it the family, institutions or individual.

The David-Weill, Richardsons and Guyot families who have supported Eurazeo over several decades renewed their faith in us with an agreement with the company at the beginning of the year. This is a strong sign of loyalty and conviction, which enables us to cross these cycles without making any concessions on our ambitions.

And this is the spirit in which we are going into 2026. Eurazeo is complying with its commitments and will continue this year its policy to return -- produce a return to shareholders consistent with the trajectory announced with an increase in the dividend of 10% to EUR 2.92 per share.

The environment remains challenging. Uncertainty, tension, market hesitancy persist. I'm convinced that the players will be able to be to combine discipline, strategic clarity and the capacity of execution, which will be further strengthened.

Eurazeo is part of those players. We now have a solid platform, excellent teams, a client base that is broadening, in particular, internationally. And above all, we have a clear direction. The bond market has taken this onboard very clearly by approving the issue of EUR 500 million made last April that has enabled us to diversify our sources of funding. The ambition, as you will clearly have understood, is very much there. It's up to us to remain on course and with determination and to step up our transformation by accelerating in the growth of our asset management, accelerating balance sheet rotation, accelerating our capacity to transform our performance by creating visible value for the market.

And it's on this particular target that we will be judged. And it's on this particular target that we are fully focused. Ladies and gentlemen, during the periods that we are going through, it is all too easy to be distracted by the surrounding noise, but what makes a difference is consistency in effort and results. The Eurazeo trajectory is being maintained. It requires more work, sometimes difficult decisions, but it is very solid.

And I when going into this, together with the Supervisory Board, with demand and confidence. Thank you. And I will hand over to Mr. William Kadouch and Christophe Baviere, the co-CEOs, who will present the highlights of last year and expectations for the coming year.

Thank you, sir, and good morning, everyone, and welcome to this AGM. This will give us an opportunity to review 2025, to look at the strategic projects underway and to give you a presentation of the financial and extra-financial results. Look at 2025 first.

First of all, well, asset management has again experienced 2-digit growth given a good year of cash collection. Christophe will come back on this. Then it was, in fact, a profitable growth with an improvement in operational margin and cash flow from asset management.

Secondly, the rotation of our balance sheet has been good despite the bad market condition, with divestment up 40% done in the right kind of conditions despite the difficult circumstances.

Thirdly, value creation of the portfolio is negative. We have, for instance, adjusted a number of things, undergone the significant drop in the dollar over 2025. However, things have improved over the second half of last year. The investment portfolio is doing well, with significant growth in turnover and profitability across the board, which should lead to something positive, provided things become more normal.

We are now halfway through our 4-year plan. It is time, therefore, to review the 4 strategic midterm avenues that we had discussed with you in the past. Firstly, gain market share in asset management. Secondly, increase the contribution of asset management to our balance sheet, reducing the balance sheet given an active monetization policy together with the distribution to our shareholders. And thirdly, generate organic value creation in the portfolio.

We can say that we're ahead of time as concerns the growth of our development and our client franchises, with an increase in institutional customers and international contacts too through wealth solutions. We're also on line as concerns asset management. The current recurring margin on commissions is some 36% and still increasing. The commissions are still increasing, and the generation of cash flow profile is, therefore, in line with the plan, with a 2-digit growth of third-party commissions and less dependency on the balance sheet.

We're also on the right path as concerns the asset-light model, less reliant on capital. And we've outperformed market as concerns realizations and have paid out more or some EUR 1 billion in capital to our shareholders over the last 2 years. However, the creation of value for the portfolio has been disappointing for 2024 and 2025, and we're running late on the plan.

At the November 2023 Capital Market Days, we had committed to increasing our return and payout to shareholders. We have done that over the first 2 years of the plan, increasing the dividend by 10% every year. We are now offering an ordinary dividend of EUR 2.92 per share. That is yet again a 10% increase as compared to last year.

A 10% loyalty premium will be paid out to registered shareholders who hold their shares for more than 2 years and who have held them for more than 2 years within the legal maximum of 0.5%. Over 2024-2026, the overall payout should reach the EUR 600 million mark.

Our share buyback program, as the Chairman has said, is ambitious and in line with the plan. Since the launch, we have bought back some EUR 600 million of shares. That is some 20% of total shares and an accretion for the shareholders. Over 2026, we expect to buy back some 4% of our shares, some EUR 200 million, leading to an overall buyback for 2024-2026 to EUR 800 million.

Over the entire 4-year course, we expect to buy back 25% of our shares. That is about 45% of the free float. The pace at which this will be done will depend on our ability to optimize and maximize the regulatory possibilities over the course of the period.

Let's now move on to the numbers for 2025. Asset Management first. At year's end, assets under management totaled EUR 39 billion, up 8% on 1 year. Assets for third parties accounted for some EUR 30 billion, up 15%. Assets generating commission reached EUR 28 billion, up 8%. So this was due to third-party accounts up 12%, whereas the assets generating commissions on the balance sheet have gone down 2%, which is in line with our strategy to downsize the balance sheet.

Please note that the asset -- the ratio of assets generating commissions compared to overall assets under management is now still high, around 72%.

Management fees raised to EUR 435 million in 2025, up 3%. Third-party managers up 7.5% at constant exchange rate, reaching EUR 322 million. Commission on private markets, at the heart of our business, up 10%, reached EUR 237 million. Very high business, thanks to our [ FAAMP ]. IMGP commissions reached EUR 85 million, down 2% because of headwinds related to ForEx, while assets under management and income in U.S. dollars are up 2%. Lastly, management commissions related to the balance sheet are down 5% to EUR 113 million. This is consistent with our strategy as in 2023, the so-called asset-light approach.

Recurring income from FRE, fee-related earnings, is up to EUR 156 million, with a margin up 40 basis points in the year, reaching some 36%. It's the fourth year running that that has increased. We have, in fact, reached our midterm goal of 35% to 40%. This is the result of a healthy growth of commissions for third parties and rigorous cost management, only up 3% in 2025.

EBITDA for Asset Management is up 12% to EUR 206 million; margin, 44%, up 2 percentage points on the year. Commissions on performance, performance fees, reached EUR 33 million. That is a twofold increase over the previous year. We are still increasing our fees -- management fees for third parties and our performance fees. Our Asset Management is, therefore, a positive contributor to cash flow for the group, which now brings us to the investment corporation's results.

At year's end, the net value of the portfolio was EUR 6.8 billion, and is marked by the following. The organic value creation is slightly down, minus 1.6%. The momentum of the portfolio was offset by compressions in some market segments by cap rates, for instance, in real estate, which is still unfavorable, and one-off adjustments. ForEx has also had a negative impact to the tune of 2.5%. Lastly, the change in scope has led to a 9% reduction, which is in line with our policy of active rotation of the balance sheet.

As you can see on the chart, value creation in H2 has improved over H1, which is an encouraging trend. The operational indicators for the underlying portfolio are and remain healthy. We intend and expect to have positive value creation in the next few quarters and half-years, which would require a stabilization of the current market instability and volatility.

The contribution of the investment business was mainly driven by noncash elements, mainly IFRS-related elements, minus EUR 552 million in 2025, including EUR 351 million for fair value and EUR 113 million for fees paid out. Management costs and financial costs are and have remained stable and limited.

Let me now give the floor to Christophe who will tell us more about rotation of assets.

Thank you, William. Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. As William said, welcome to the general meeting. It's an honor and a pleasure to be with you here once again this year.

So moving on to the operational performance of the Asset Management business of Eurazeo. 2025 was a new record year in terms of fundraising with third-party flows at EUR 5.5 billion, up 28%. This is the third year in a row where we have growth above 20% in terms of fundraising. This fundraising was well balanced between private debt and private equity, reflecting the strength and diversity of our platform.

This is a major shift of Eurazeo over the past few years. We are now funding companies by becoming shareholders through private equity, but also increasingly by lending funds through private debt. This is an evolution in the European market which is similar to what has happened -- been happening for the past few years in the United States.

In terms of strategy, private equity raised EUR 2.7 billion, up 67%, including the successful closings of the ECVs, our buyout fund, Article 9 Planetary Boundaries, as well as the launch of the fundraising for PME V. Growth strategy achieved a first closing of EGF IV at EUR 650 million, and Venture Strategies raised over EUR 100 million.

Secondaries and mandates collected over EUR 800 million, mainly through Eurazeo SF5. Private debt raised EUR 2.7 billion, up 8% through our flagship fund, which is Eurazeo Private Debt VII, specializing in ETIs and SMEs, and which now stands at EUR 3.5 billion at end 2025.

The following chart is pretty explicit. Notwithstanding volatility, what we see very clearly is that Eurazeo is increasing its market share, which is the implementation of the commitments we made at our Capital Markets Day. Using 2009 as the base year, the annual fundraising by Eurazeo is up 126%, versus overall increase of 33% for the European market, which, as you can see, has recently declined 7% over the same period. In absolute terms, we have gone up from EUR 2.4 billion to EUR 5.5 billion, emphasizing the strength of Eurazeo's platform as well as the breadth of our client base.

Now we've often spoken about this here. It's a priority target for Eurazeo. We continue to broaden and internationalize our institutional investor base. The number of institutional clients now stands -- well, in fact, has exceeded 500 with a net addition of 44 in 2025. Our client base has increased on average by 25% since 2022. And the share of institutional flows from -- arising from our international business stood at 71% in 2025, which is a very sharp increase on the 2018-2020 period where we were at 37%.

This reflects major contributions from the rest of Europe and from the rest of the world, illustrating very clearly Eurazeo's capacity to win institutional investor blue-chip mandates internationally. The development of our franchise not only reflects the quality of our investment approach and the excellent quality of our teams, it is also a driver of future growth. Our experience shows that once trust has been built, established, large institutional investors gradually increase their commitment to our funds.

Further, we have continued to grow our Wealth Solution franchise with private investors. The franchise grew its assets by 18%, sustained by our evergreen product, which is [ EPVE III ], which behaves similarly to a mutual fund and now stands in excess of EUR 3.5 billion in assets under management.

We broadened our European presence with good traction in Benelux and new distribution partners in Italy, Germany and Switzerland. In 2025, we officially launched a wholly European product range through our Evergreen Eurazeo Prime Fund with EPIC in private credit and [ EPSO ] in private equity. As you can see, we're continuing to invest in the reputation of our brand, and this is bearing fruit. We were among the most broadly recognized management companies during the IPM 126 awards at Cannes. And [ Lizico ] now recognizes us as one of the leading players in private equity and private debt.

Let's look ahead now, the 2026 pipeline. In other words, funds raised in 2025 is very robust and well diversified with flagship funds, more thematic offers and an offering focusing on individual private investors.

In private debt, EPD VII remains very successful with sustained demand. It should be soon completing its final closing by achieving its high cap. We are also going to be launching Eurazeo Private Debt VIII in the near future. We have also [ raised ] [ ESNIC ] II, which is an asset-based vehicle specializing in maritime transport.

In equity, we have a robust pipeline. In buyouts, PME V has excellent traction and will be one of the key features of this year. ESF V in the secondaries and EGF IV in growth are continuing to raise funds. And finally, in real assets, we are launching in 2026 the second -- our second vintage in infrastructure, ETIF II. And we will continue to raise funds for our [ ESO ] fund in operational real estate.

Coming to Wealth Solutions for private investors, flows in our EPVE Evergreen Fund remain dynamic, backed up by the internalization of the fundraising through the launching of the European Prime brand, which includes EPIC and EPSO.

It's important to raise funds, but let's see how the funds collected by Eurazeo in 2025 have been used, on which kind of company Eurazeo has shifted its investments. Investments totaled EUR 5.3 billion in 2025 versus EUR 4.6 billion in 2024. In private equity, we deployed EUR 2.2 billion in high-quality companies such as [ Mapal ] in Spain, [ Ecosan ] in France, [ Omax ] in Germany, [ 3P ] in Belgium or [ Dexoria ] in the United Kingdom.

In private debt and secondaries, the pace of investment is fully consistent with objectives. At the end of the year, EPD VII was invested at 61% and ESF V at 53%.

In real assets, Eurazeo invested in [ Aquades ] in Italy, Water Direct in the U.K. and [ Terrelaia ] in Germany. We are moving into 2026 with dry powder, in other words, our investment -- available cash at EUR 6.2 billion, up 15% on last year, as well as balance sheet commitments of EUR 2 billion, which enables -- ensures that Eurazeo has all the resources that are required in order to capture investment opportunities.

Eurazeo's business, as you know, is to collect funds to put them to work by financing market leaders, SMEs, French and European, very small companies, and also to disinvest and to give money -- cash back to our investors. In 2025, we sustained our rate of implementation after a recovery in 2024 at a Group level. Implementation stood at EUR 3.1 billion in 2025 versus EUR 3.4 billion in 2024. Disposal in private equity stood at EUR 1.9 billion, confirming the Group's capacity to monetize its assets on a sound footing.

In private debt, disposals, cash returns reached EUR 1.2 billion, slightly above last year, reflecting regular rotation of our portfolio.

I would, if I may, like to emphasize the quality of our disposals. As you can see, we have continued in 2025 to crystallize strong value creation, extending our track record with a gross multiple of disposals of 2.1x our investments since 2012 and disposals that are regularly above the value recorded in our financial statements. We have got off to a good start in 2026 with the disposals of [ Fermax ] and [ Ex Nicolo ] at 2.6x and 2.7x, respectively, the cost price of the investment.

Disposals of companies and distributions are the major priorities for our investors and a key factor in transforming Eurazeo's business model. This will remain a sharp area of focus for us and all the teams in the year ahead.

Finally, let's not forget our commitments. And we are continuing to strengthen our leadership in terms of sustainable development and investment impact, under the stewardship of Sophie Flak, who will be reporting on this in a few moments. The dedicated assets dedicated to environmental and health solutions stand at EUR 6.1 billion, which is around 16% of our total assets under management. Our impact strategies contributed to the tune of approximately EUR 460 million to the fundraising for 2025.

Regarding our climate alignment, 28% of the companies eligible for the private equity portfolio now have targets validated by the SBTi in excess of our target of 25% that we set for 2025. These achievements are accompanied by external ratings, amongst the best on the market, 5 star with PRI. MSCI, we have AA rating; and Sustainalytics, Low Risk.

So to sum up, ladies and gentlemen, Eurazeo has made good headway in 2025 on the 2 key thrusts of our strategic plan, growth and transformation. We are building -- Eurazeo is building a private market leader with clear relevant positioning on European mid-caps, focusing on growth and impact. We are posting regular growth in our results, driven by growth in revenue and cost control. And finally, we are, as we said earlier, we are increasing the amount of capital return to our shareholders, in other words, doubled in 2 years.

To conclude, we want to address the important issue of stock market performance of the Group, consistent with the adjustments made on the balance sheet. And I'll now hand back to William.

Thank you. So the share performance now, the share price. This is something that is very important for us and the Board and for management as a whole. Now the performance, we must admit it, was not very good last year. As you can see, up until April last year, it was pretty good. And then it collapsed in April.

This is mainly due to 2 factors. First of all, an unfavorable market as concerns alternative management. There are issues related to private credit in the U.S., software, the ability to value portfolios. And then more significantly, the adjustment of our portfolio has led to negative value creation over 2 years running, which has led to a number of questions being raised about our assets and portfolio. And that is what we must reassure people about.

So what happened? Well, we adjusted value in 2024 and '25 for over 8% over 2 years. All in all, that is something like EUR 650 million. These adjustments according to the accounting standards, IFRS 10, meant that there were a number of bookings in our balance sheet even though we were cashing in capital gains to the tune of EUR 2.6 billion.

But as you can see, value creation over 5 years, and that's important, is still, on average, 10% a year given the strong reevaluations of 2021 and 2022. All in all, the variations over the year are due to 3 things. First of all, value adjustments of EUR 1.4 billion, gross adjustments, and that affected a small number of historically held assets over 2016 to 2021. Then a variation in the value of the rest of the portfolio that was still lively and buoyant, around EUR 800 billion. So EUR 1.4 billion minus EUR 800 million, that's somewhere around EUR 600 million. And lastly, the downsizing of our balance sheet, which is in line with our strategy, to the tune of EUR 900 million, and that is just a scope issue.

Now there is a basic difference between value creation over 1 year and yield over the investment horizon, which is depending on the asset class, somewhere around 5 to 7 years. Therefore, our overall balance sheet, your balance sheet is still invested in programs that are robust and over the mid and long term.

Therefore, for instance, Capital IV posts today a 2x multiple. That is 2x its initial cost and an IRR around 14%. PME IV has IRR 29% and 0.4. In private debt, the latest lending -- direct lending fund, EPD VII, is in the first quartile with IRR around 15%. And also in growth, as you know, our direct investment in the balance sheet still generates a 1.4x multiple. And the new program, EGF IV, is still very promising.

So to address the legitimate concerns of the market, we've decided to be more educational. We've organized a workshop for the benefit of the market on the 29th of April this year so as to shed light on the components of the portfolio and the program, its value and its performance. But let us come back to basic.

We are convinced that the intrinsic value of the enterprise, which we consider to be somewhere around EUR 120, EUR 130 a share is very much higher than the current share price. How have we calculated this? First of all, our asset management is enjoying dynamic growth, somewhere around EUR 30 to EUR 40 per share, depending on how -- which methods you use.

Two, the value of our balance sheet portfolio was EUR 102 per share at year-end 2025. And thirdly, debt -- net debt of the Group at year's end was a negative value of EUR 14, to be deducted from the previous numbers I've just given.

So what we now have to do is to shed light on this intrinsic value of the group. And to do so, we are acting on 3 avenues. First of all, the growth of asset management. We've said it, and its value will be fully recognized when it is reached a more significant growth compared to its peers and compared to our balance sheet. We are improving and -- but given the competitive environment, it is going to be a long-term project.

Secondly, the performance of the balance sheet in terms of value creation and realization. We have shown our ability to cash in on significant capital gains by divesting some EUR 800 million in 2024/'25, but this wasn't fully booked, as I have said. And we intend to go on doing so despite the volatile economic and geopolitical circumstances.

Third point, remuneration of our shareholders. With a 10% per annum growth for dividend and an accretion of the share of 14% over 2 years, we have a very positive result.

And let me now give the floor to Sophie Flak.

Thank you, William. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, 2025 once again reminded us of something that is very obvious, of course, that with the increase in floods, droughts, fires and other disturbances, the physical reality of our world -- the world we live in has a direct impact on our businesses over and beyond the geopolitical gaps and differences.

The recent events have also shed some glaring light on our strategic dependency and our need to increase our robustness and the sovereignty to preserve competitiveness and the performance of our companies, which is why Eurazeo is putting sustainability at the heart of its business model. Our goal being to reduce the impact and the related risks and to make the most of the opportunities that this brings. Let's look at our regulatory and statutory reporting under the CSRD directive.

Our double materiality analysis has identified 8 major environmental, social and governance issues that may have a material impact on the current and future performance of the Eurazeo, as you can see on the screen, maybe. These risks are the same, and impacts are the same, as those that were shown last year, but there is one more down bottom right, cybersecurity, which has increased due to the spread of AI.

As concerns sustainability, the first opportunity for the Group is to develop so-called profitable impact investment funds. These would finance companies whose product services and/or technologies meet the great challenges of the day. As you may see on the screen and as Christophe has said, the 2 reference indicators across the world show that there is still appetite for this. And in the economic and financial context, which is very complex, these dedicated assets are still growing, up 11%, as you can see on the left.

But when you turn to the future, institutional clients on private markets, the so-called LPs, seem to want to significantly increase their allocation to impact, as you can see on the right. Christophe, William and all our teams and our staff are all convinced that impact is a significant driver of profitable growth for Eurazeo. And as you can see, we have a solid strategic positioning as concerned this specific segment.

And we've chosen to focus on 2 segments that enjoy strong growth and high profitability, namely Environmental Solutions and Health Solutions. And we finance this through generalist funds and 8 dedicated investment strategies. To date, this accounts for some EUR 6 billion. That is a 16% of our assets under management and a 19% increase compared to 2024.

Our positioning on profitable impact is also a key differentiation factor and appeal for our customers as has been demonstrated by the EUR 460 million raised on impact funds for 2025. That is some 9% of the total raised by the group.

Let's now move on to the second one, climate change. Eurazeo generated emissions, account for some 3.8 million tonnes of CO2. That is equivalent to the yearly emissions of some 400,000 French citizens. And we note that 99% of these emissions come from companies we support. And we've, therefore, committed to a decarbonation strategy under the Paris Accord and validated by the science-based target.

You can see a slight increase in our emissions for 2025, in part due to the change of our headquarters. Some of the lease on our former offices are still running over 2025. But with the new offices, we are aiming at a minus 43% emission compared to 2017, even though we now have a staff headcount that is twice what it was then. And this puts us on course to achieve our goal of minus 55% by 2030.

And as you know, decarbonation also covers the eligible private equity portfolio. We are overshooting our midterm objective for 2025 with 28% of invested capital covered by the decarbonation trajectory validated by SBTi. That is 70% of the portfolio is now covered. On real estate, the reduction in emissions per square foot has increased and is now minus 51% compared to minus 60% being our target for 2030.

Let me now remind you that CO2 emissions is being reduced by a switch from hydrocarbons to electron in buildings and data centers. And this contributes to the protection and decarbonation of the performance in our businesses.

Now we have to spend, of course, a little time as concerns our staff. We have balanced ethnicity within our team. 47% of our staff, permanent staff, are women. There's a slight drop to 27% in representation in the senior management because they have broadened.

But we are paying due attention to the working condition of the 150,000 workers in the companies we finance. And this is a key vector of job creation and job protection in France and across Europe, thus contributing to our economic sovereignty and strengthening it.

By way of conclusion, I can say that investing in Eurazeo is investing in a resilient company that is able to look forward and manage its risks as concerns sustainability, while at the same time tapping into the opportunities derived from environmental and social transition. Thank you.

Thank you, Sophie. Thank you for this presentation that clearly shows you, ladies and gentlemen, how Eurazeo is committed in time. And thank you, William and Christophe, for giving us this overview of our operational results, which are strong even though the share price is not quite what it should be.

Let me now give the floor to Gabriel Kunde, who will tell us more about what the Supervisory Board members have done over the last year.

Thank you, Chair. I will now be reporting on the work of the Supervisory Board.

At 31st of December 2025 included 11 members, including 2 employee representatives and a nonvoting member, Mr. Bruno Roger. Your company is complying with current regulation with women representation on the Board of 44.4% and independent members at 55.5%. Further to today's general meeting, Mr. Jean-Pierre Richardson, the nonvoting member of the Board and member of the Audit Committee, will not be seeking renewal of his term of office, and our AGM will be voting on the nomination of Mrs. Flavie Richardson to take over from him.

We are also proposing a renewal of the terms of office of the independent members, Madame Lemoine and Mr. Schoen. The last nomination confirmed that the wish of the Board to further strengthen its expertise in financial analysis, knowledge of asset management and private equity. They also enabled us to strengthen the competence within the Audit and Remuneration Committees against the backdrop of a strong increase in the intensity of the work of the governing bodies of your group.

You know the general duties incumbent under the law and statutes on the Supervisory Board of Eurazeo. We recall that the strategic transformation of Eurazeo and the establishment of a diversified international asset management platform has led to a shift in the duties of the Board to the allocation of the shareholder equity of the company and the funds, the performance of the funds, the CSR strategy of your group and the succession plan of the members of the Management Board.

Four permanent committees assist the Supervisory Board in the decisions. As recommended under good practices for governance, the Audit Committees and CSR committees are chaired and mainly made up by independent members. Your governing bodies, you met on 29 occasions, a new further year of strong mobilization of the members of the Supervisory Board and Management Board.

As you can see on the screen, the attendance rates of these meetings are particularly high. Three meetings known as executive sessions were held during the year attended by members of the Supervisory Board but without the members of the Management Board.

The main areas covered were the allocation of the shareholder equity of the company to the funds, review of performance of the funds managed by the Group, governance and remuneration, a review of the share ownership structure and the share buyback program in 2025 against the backdrop of a volatile market.

Particular emphasis was made at the request of the Chair of the Supervisory Board and the members and the performance of the investments on the balance sheet of the company. The Supervisory Board implements, consistent with [ AFVP MEDAC ] recommendations, a dual-evaluation approach combining triennial assessment by an independent company and an internal annual review. The Chair of the Supervisory Board also personally conducted individual interviews with each of the members in order to have their assessment of the work conducted during the year.

This evaluation reflects a positive shift in the functioning of Eurazeo's governance, which is very satisfying for all of its members who note constant improvement. Recommendations for 2026 include consolidating the annual risk review, further in-depth analysis of the succession plans, and continuing to increase the training program covering asset management, private equity, IA and CSR.

Thank you, Gabriel. And now I would like to hand over to Serge Schoen, who is the Chair of the Governance Committee, who will present the work of the committee.

Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, I am delighted to present a report on the work completed by the committee in 2025. This work reflects a constant demand for stringency, transparency and aligning of the interest of all of the stakeholders in your company.

At 31st of December '25, your committee was comprised of members with complementary skills, mainly independent members. We welcomed on Board last year, Madam Isabelle Eealet, an Independent Member; and Madam Julie Croquin, representing employees. I would like to thank them.

I wish to emphasize the quality of our discussions, the strong attendance, the commitment of each of the members that enabled us to conduct in-depth work on all of the relevant areas.

I should add finally that further to their request, Mr. Louis Stem, a member of the Board representing the David-Weill family, the long-standing shareholder of the Group, will be joining the CSR Committee to replace Mr. Olivier Merveilleux du Vignaux. I would like to thank Mr. Merveilleux du Vignaux for his excellent contribution to the work of the committee over the past 15 years, and welcome the arrival of Mr. Stern, who will contribute his knowledge of the industry, in particular, Anglo-Saxon practices since he himself runs an American investment fund.

In 2025, the committee met on 9 occasions reflecting the sustained activity. Our work covered all of our responsibilities and duties with particular attention on reviewing the remuneration policy and assessing the objectives for the Management Board, the Supervisory Board governance, preparing the general meetings, preparing future governance plans and reviewing succession plans -- and finally, we also considered long-term issues such as regulated party agreements and co-investment projects. All of this work was conducted with a constant emphasis on strategic coherence, alignment of interest and compliance with market standards.

Now moving on to the achievements of variable remuneration targets long and short term for members of the Management Board. As indicated last year, the remuneration policy of 2025 was adjusted to better reflect the change in the business model of Eurazeo, in particular, the weightings of the economic criteria were reviewed in order to strengthen alignment with the development of the business for third parties.

Based on 2025, the variable remuneration of members of the Management Board stood at 90.70% of target. The achievement of this level reflects a balanced combination of economic criteria and qualitative criteria assessed stringently by the committee. Criteria arising from the evolution of net book value for 2025 as well as that of the performance of total shareholder return were not fully attained.

Conversely, I wish to emphasize the excellent performance of the group's operating margin for its asset management business -- the operating margin of the group is therefore the FRE after an excellent or record year on this particular indicator.

Finally, I wish to note the committee's wish to commend through the qualitative part of the 2025, the strong execution by your Management Board of the strategic plan and the modernization of our group as recalled by our Chair in his introductory remarks. You have on screen the variable individual remunerations for the members of the Supervisory Board. This will be covered by resolution for you to vote on during the AGM.

Regarding the remuneration of long-term free share plan allocated in 2023 expiring in 2026, -- the performance conditions were not reached, and therefore, no share was finalized for ownership for the beneficiaries under this plan. This situation reflects the demanding nature of these long-term remuneration plans. I recall that the performance criteria in 2023-'26 performance plan were significantly weighted by the change in the valuation of the companies on Eurazeo's balance sheet accounting for 70% of the plan as well as the share price of the company for the remaining 30%.

Coming -- moving on now to the remuneration policy and governance policy of 2026. First of all, the remuneration policy -- given the renewal of the membership of the Management Board in the first quarter of '27, we did not make any shift in remuneration policy overall with one exception for the allocation policy of long-term performance shares. Three adjustments were made decided upon by the Supervisory Board for 2026, 2029, namely the introduction of new economic criteria, a review of the criteria weightings and adaptation of the allocation level.

These shifts -- these changes are intended to strengthen the coherence between financial incentives and the group's priority -- strategic priorities. the performance criteria associated with the allocation of shares to members of the Management Board, we decided to reduce the discount between face value and the book value of the instrument, which was abnormally high at Eurazeo and created an imbalance if criteria are reached. Therefore, we have set up new criteria, each weighted 25%.

First, the performance of the net asset value restated for previous distributions, the increase in the share price of Eurazeo compared to the LPXTR Europe Index regarding quoted listed European investment companies. growth of assets under management for third parties and finally, the increase in the FRE margin with an objective of over 150 basis points for the period of the plan. We, therefore, have balanced criteria that a better balance between market criteria and internal criteria and a discount in between the book value and the face value of the instrument, which has been significantly reduced and now reflects market standards.

And finally, after analyzing market practice, the company adjusted allocation levels in order to ensure the attractiveness of the structure. 12-month equivalent of remuneration in performance shares were awarded to the co-CEOs and 9 months to Madam Sovi Flat.

To set these levels, we assess the competitiveness of the long-term remuneration scheme versus a reference panel comprising 8 investment companies that are comparable to Eurazeo. These allocations are positioned on a prudent basis versus peers while guaranteeing strong alignment with the creation of long-term value. These allocations will be established for a 3-year period.

And finally, the fixed remuneration of the members of the Management Board remained unchanged in 2026.

Now coming on to governance topics for 2026. Regarding the membership of the Supervisory Board, we decided to renew the terms of office of 2 independent members that were expiring that were ending. Matthew Luman, member of the Supervisory Board and of the CSR Committee and myself, and it's been my pleasure to chair the CSR Committee and to take part in the work of the Finance Committee and of course, the Supervisory Board.

And I should add that I also supervised the work of the ad hoc committee set up over a year ago to consider potential growth -- external growth projects for the group. We also have noted the wish of Mr. Jean-Pierre Richardson to not renew his term of office as a nonvoting member of the Board, which he has been since 2008 and on which the Chair will say a few words.

Given the long-standing loyalty and the strength and support of the Richardson family, which has increased its stake in Eurazeo Capital as well as his own qualities and professional experience, we are recommending the nomination of [ Madam ] Flavy Richardson as the nonvoting member of the Supervisory Board.

Further to this AGM and subject to approval of the resolutions, the membership of the Supervisory Board will be consistent with high standards in terms of governance, diversity profiles, the know-how of each member, the illustration of strong commitment to the group as well as the proportion or the number of independent members and of gender equality are the key factors.

Regarding the work of the specialized committee, I wish to heighten the decision of the Supervisory Board to broaden the scope of the CSG Committee, this reflects the growing importance of CSR issues as well as the inclusion of issues arising from digital technology, data and AI.

The committee will ensure that these areas are dealt within a structured manner, taking into account their ethical reputation and governance impact. Among the main projects for 2026, we have already launched the process for nomination of the Management Board for the period running for 4 years starting Q1 '27. Consistent with our stringent transparent approach, the committee has launched a preparation process that will lead to the decision of the Supervisory Board in early '27. This work ensures the quality of future decisions to be made by the Board and alignment of the stakeholders.

Further, the committee examined on the basis of the related party agreements, the signing of a new shareholder pack with the David family, and this is also being subjected that presented for a vote. This agreement, which is a 4-year period from the 6th of April 26, reflects the continuity and stability of the share ownership of the company. It rests on 3 key pillars: a commitment to prior consultation between the parties before each AGM in order to ensure a consistent exercise of voting rights, strict supervision of capital -- share capital movements, including cap on acquisitions and commitment and obligation not to exceed the threshold of 30% of the share capital.

Next mechanisms governing transfer of shares as well as a new framework for the right to prior negotiation for Eurazeo, enabling the company to be the priority buyer in the event of a disposal. This agreement reflects the renewed will of the David family to maintain its long-term share in the company. And the Go and Richardson families who are legacy shareholders, their terms have been renewed without any change.

And finally, to conclude, the committee examined and adopted a new investment program on the fund called LightQuest, which is a secondary fund in our buyout portfolio. As you know, these measures that you are called upon to approve each year enable us to closely align the interest of the corporate officers with those of the investors in the funds. And this program represents modest commitments for each member of the Supervisory Management Board, 66,000 in total.

[Interpreted]

Thank you. Well, thank you for this very detailed report, which really shows the commitment of the members of the committee here at the Supervisory Board. As you can see, I'm sure, they have all been able to work in depth on the issue of the governance of the company and be very transparent for the benefit of you, our shareholders.

As you have said, I will discuss Mr. Jean-Pierre Richardson and what he has done for us. As he leaves the Board at his request, it is not just an event. It is the end of a commitment, a decades-long commitment to Eurazeo and its growth. Over the years, Jean-Pierre, you have supported changes in the group with great ability, as Mr. Schoenön has just said, insofar as you combined experience and consistency and this understanding of time when time has seemed to run much faster.

Your industrial and financial expertise has been a great asset for the group. It is 40 years of our history that is coming to a pause, a turning point, not so much an end. But I know Jean-Pierre, how moved you must be today. But today is also a time for continuity. The Board pays tribute to your commitment and the commitment of your family through your investment and your support to the future of Eurazeo. Continuity also because your daughter, Flavia Richardson will be joining us subject to the confirmation of the AGM. She would join as a nonvoting member.

Dear Jean-Pierre, the Supervisory Board and all our staff should like to thank you for your involvement, your charisma, your benevolent contribution to Eurazeo and our history. We are delighted to see that this is not an end, but the beginning of a new phase in our shared history. Thank you so very much, Jean-Pierre. I'm sure we can give him a big hat.

He and his family, I believe, embody consistent hard work, sticking bias even when the times can be bad in our professional or private lives.

We must, of course, move on, and I will give the floor to Ms. [ Sarah KresmanFloke ] a partner at PwC Audit to report on the statutory auditor's work for 2025.

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. The statutory auditors issued 5 reports to be found in the universal registration document that was filed with the Financial Markets Authority. Three reports cover the ordinary shareholders' meeting and 2 under the extraordinary meeting. The first 2 relate to the yearly annual financial statements and the consolidated statements. They are to be found on Pages 349 and 307.

The Board closed the accounts annual and consolidated under the French GAAP and IFRS, respectively. We can certify that these accounts are regular and sincere and give an honest image of the financial year and the financial situation and the assets of the company and the group. Under the commercial codes obligations, we, in our report, give you an overview of the highlights of our audit and the responses we got during the course of the audit. This is to be found in detail in our reports. These key features of our audit have been discussed in detail with the senior management and with the Audit Committee.

Our annual report -- annual accounts report include an observation on the annex to the annual accounts in line with the methodological changes under Rule ANC 202206. Third report concerns the related party agreements, and this can be found on Page 40. For each of these conventions, we describe the related party agreement, the relevance of the agreement for the company, the financial conditions, terms and conditions and the persons, natural or legal involved in the agreement.

In the first part, we review the agreements authorized with prior authorization from the Supervisory Board that were signed over the course of the year. This year, there are 2 new agreements. In sum, they relate to the Light quest co-investment program adopted at the surveillance -- the Supervisory Board of the 19th of June and also the Eurazeo David Val 2026, pack adopted on the 10th of March 2026. In the second half, we review previously approved agreements that were still being performed over the last financial year.

And then the agreements that were approved at the AGM of the 7th of May last. As concerns the reports under the Extraordinary General meeting, we have no comments on the Management Board's report. The final conditions in which the emission of shares might be issued, we have no comment to make as concerns the removal of the professional rights. Should this be acted upon, we will produce an additional report. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Madam, for this detailed presentation. Let me now give the floor to Mr. Kunde, who will tell you more about the resolutions.

Thank you. We have 28 resolutions under the ordinary and extraordinary AGMs, and you will find them under Pages 370 and following. 1 to 3, the individual and consolidated accounts.

Two, appropriation of dividend, as you can see on the screen. This year, we suggest an ordinary dividend of EUR 2.92 per share. That is a 10% increase, plus an increased dividend, a bonus for 10% that is EUR 3.21, and that will be paid to ordinary shareholders who have held them as registered shares in the 31st of December 2023. And the maximum payment would be 0.5% of the equity. Payment will be made on the 20th of May.

Fourth resolution related party agreements, as mentioned by the statutory auditors. So co-investment program was authorized, the so-called LightQuest program, and we are looking at the contractual documentation here.

Resolution 5, related party agreements between Eurazeo and the David Val family. This was signed on the 11th of March 2026 for 4 years, running from 6th April 2026 and replaces the David Val 2022 pack that had run out.

In the sixth resolution, we suggest you reappoint as member of the Supervisory Board, Mathieideman for 4 years.

Resolution 7, same for Mr. Serge.

Eighth resolution, we suggest you appoint Mr. Flav Richardson as nonvoting member, seeing as Mr. Jean-Pierre Richardson has not requested his term be renewed. Under -- sorry,

Resolutions 9 and 10, we will review the compensation policy for Supervisory Board members and Executive Board members as presented by Mr. Schoen.

Resolution 11 to 16, approval of compensation paid out or allocated to Mr. Jean-Charles Decour, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Mr. Bavier, Williamarouaf and Sophie Flak, members of the Executive Board; and Mr. Olivier Millet, member of the Executive Board until the 17th of March 2025.

Resolution 17 program for share buyback, maximum 10%, as you can see. Resolution 18, KPMG S.A. to replace PwC audit whose term of office runs out at this AGM. KPMG would be appointed for 6 fiscal years. That is up until the accounts for 2032. We also suggest you renew for 26 years, the -- 26 months, sorry, the financial delegations from 2024 and 2025. You will see them up on the screen.

First of all, increase in capital with capitalizing reserves, then issuance of securities and you can read them. all within the 10% limit. These resolutions are not -- do not show any change compared to the previous years up until Resolution 24. The maximum issue is EUR 105 million. That is EUR 49.77% of the equity plus a cap of EUR 21 million, that is 10% for share increase without preferential rights. These can only be used for public issuance.

Resolution 25, issuance of shares for the employee savings plan. Under Resolution 27, we suggest you amend Article 23 of the bylaws in accordance with the legislation. The new legislation as concerns the registration date, 5 days before the assembly. And Resolution 28 formalities.

Thank you. Thank you, Gabriel. Ladies and gentlemen, we now come to the question-and-answer sessions. As usual, there are people in the room with microphones so that we can hear you.

Can I say that we received one written question from Bet Partners, holder of 3,000 shares. Let me read it out and Mr. Chin can answer. question. We consider that management would increase assets if asset management were completely separated from the balance sheet. Divestment or spin-off might represent EUR 38 per share with a 13x FRE multiple. Moreover, a separate holding company could be worth more than 52% per euro, including with a 50% discount. Why is this not being considered as a priority for the Board?

Thank you, Chair. Thank you for asking this question. First of all -- we fully share the conclusion that the intrinsic value of the company with all its constituent parts is not reflected in the current share price. Without going into the detail of the valuations supplied by the investor, we feel that the enterprise value is, of course, very much -- is much higher than the current share price.

We've given some explanations, the idiosyncratic factor, the sequential performance of our balance sheet, which reflects our sector and also the fact that our business model is a transformation is a model undergoing transformation. So the persistent discount that has grown since April 2025 and has led both the Supervisory Board and the Management Board together to regularly consider what could provide drivers to reveal the value.

And as you said in your question, to accelerate the recognition of the 2 components, asset management on the one hand and the portfolio on the balance sheet on the other hand. Among the possible solutions, the possible drivers, we -- there is indeed the separate listing of both of these activities, businesses. This is one of the options that we have indeed been considering.

But we would recall what has been said on several occasions by myself, Christophe and the Chair which is that we are in the process of transforming our business model and that this has not yet reached maturity that would enable us to have the best possible multiple, and we will continue to work on this in order to determine whether it will be appropriate to implement this in future.

Thank you, William, for that very full answer. And we can now hand over to the room for questions. So go ahead, please. on 2 issues.

One, on the the cyber crime attempts against Eurazeo; and number two, the absence of any hard copied documents. No registration document, no convenient notice in English, French or in Vodapook. The opening of Eurazeo's institutional website highlights in red, attempted hacking with usipation of identity. These fraudulent practices with an incentive for people to invest in a fictitious asset.

Last year, when we asked the same question, you called on me to -- you suggested I consult the websites of your competitors, which is what I did yesterday. I went on to the website of Decaho Capital, which is an asset management company, which tried to take over Eurazeo 8 years ago. And I clicked on to it and I got the same warning. Once -- then I connected to the Amundi website, where there was no warning. This fund manager manages EUR 2,400 billion assets and seems to be able to avoid any malicious cyber incursions. So my question is, what share of your consolidated revenue do you devote to the inherent technological and data risk?

Number two. Can AI help you counter potential cyberattacks? And my second theme is one that I raised last year. When we came into the building, there were no brochures, no convening notices, no registration documents yesterday at Air Liquide's General Meeting, we had convening brochures, registration documents, shareholder booklets in French and English.

And so between a plethora of documents and 0 documentation, I believe there is a happy medium, which is a little more repealing than just flashing a QR code.

Thank you for your question in several points, and we will give you some precise answers. I'll ask Sophie Flak to answer on cyber attacks and cybersecurity. And I also ask Sophie to talk about our heightened attention on hard copy documents, which she referred to in her report and also on matters arising from regulatory issues that you were referring to quite rightly. And regarding potential cyber attacks, I will ask Gabriel Kunde, the Company Secretary, to give us precise an answer as possible. Sophie, over to you.

Sir, thank you for asking those questions. And thank you for going on to our competitors' website. So when you work in the financial sector, this -- the positioning does indeed attract potential cyber attackers, hackers. As I said, AI increases the efficiency of these hackers. The message you see on the website is a warning message to encourage all our clients to be prudent, but it does not suggest that there has been a successful attack. We, over the past 12 months, have been able to counter over 5,000 hacking attacks. We have very efficient systems. We use the Elevate portfolio systems. But what we do see is an increase in the number of attacks and we wish to encourage everyone to be very prudent. You're quite right to emphasize that artificial intelligence will, of course, strengthen -- heighten the performance of cyber attackers, but it will also improve the quality of our defenses.

We have 77 surveillance, 360 days a year. So all of our -- all of our entry channels, we also monitor the dark web in order to ensure that we are not suffering from any data leaks. All this is covered by our governance at top level and as part of the work of the Supervisory Board where we present all of our security -- cybersecurity setup. which is signed off on by an Audit Committee. So rest assured we're doing everything that's required.

Your second question, and this was recalled for -- by Gabrie Kunde.

We have decided to provide all our shareholders with digital documents. And I would also recall that on request, all you have to do is request a hard copy documentation. We're more than happy to provide that and the Hostess team will take the details so that this can be done. And I would -- regarding attempted fraud and identity using, we're not the only ones, and these attempts 3 actions have been conducted, permanent dialogue versus each attack in conjunction with the AMF, Mariner in order to counter these attempts. p

Second, lodging a complaint with the courts in Paris on behalf of Christophe Baviere, who was the victim of this. And also, we inform our clients and all those who browse our website. And as Sophie was saying, we have indeed suffered attempts, cyberattack attempts, but none of these attempts have given rise to an established fraud, but we remain extremely vigilant

Sir, thank you. Good morning. I'm an individual shareholder. I'm very proud of this prestigious brand, Eurazeo. First of all, congratulations for your very significant transparency on many years, your record fundraising, up 28%. But I do have 3 questions to better understand how you work.

One, why and how you adjust the value? Could you be more specific with some examples of losses so that we can understand what happened and what you would no longer do in order to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

Number two, the date of going back to a positive operating income. When do you expect the end of the value adjustments to go back into the black with a positive, to have a positive return, which is the key point, reflecting the precept of Warren Buffett, my mentor.

When you look at the company, what are the first 3 points of your checklist to decide whether it's good or not?

First of all, I think we can share the same mentor. Thank you for your questions, for showing interest in our company. And these 3 questions cover the major areas of value -- present and future value for our group. I will ask William and Christophe members of the Management Board to answer the 3 points, which are very clear. On the concern that you're expressing value creation, return to positive operational income. And lastly, the 3 criteria for investment at Eurazeo.

On the third question, if I may, Chair, I would like to take the opportunity of having with us the heads of investment in the room. I would suggest that Pierre Me, the Head of Elevate, which is the Head of Bayer and Eric Galan on debt products. And while I answer the 2 previous questions, they can get ready to answer your question.

And regarding value adjustments, -- in the past -- past 2 years, as shown on the chart, we've had EUR 1.4 billion gross of write-offs, depreciation, focusing on middle-age client, 10% on minority interests, but 5 in particular, were affected and 2 or 3 assets such as real estate. So on a portfolio of stakes, which accounts for 0.5% and 70 entries in total, it's 600 entries, it's very focused -- so what this tells you is that part of the work has been done on companies that at one time or another have been lower. So what are we referring to? We're referring to the underperformance, operating underperformance.

You have 2 companies that were brought back to 0. And I stand to be corrected by Mr. Lemar, if necessary, [indiscernible] and SUI. Both of these companies are excellent companies, but they are in hotel staff training and student travel. And they never really truly recovered from COVID and investment was made in the years before COVID. So despite all the efforts to turn them around, they were still not able to come back to profitability and to cover their costs. So there you -- and you have a more recent case, which is linked to what's happening on AI. Now as you know, we could not forecast this. This was mentioned during the conference I was referring to by [ Laurafalel ] which is a very good company in digital marketing. But which we had to enter a 0 value in our books because we think that it's being disrupted by AI in terms of the functioning of its business model.

And then you have a few instances that were more impacted in -- by other factors. We reviewed, for example, United Credit for EUR 200 million, EUR 300 million because there was an interest rate trend, which made the business model for digital operating consumer credit less profitable.

Now these companies may retrieve, we gain value over time, but we feel that they will never go back to their initial value. So if you add them up, there are some that are between EUR 250 million and EUR 350 million and that's how you quickly come at EUR 1.4 billion.

And the second point is that what we think is that this treatment of disrupted portfolio assets has been widely completed, and we feel that we are very prudent in the application of methods and multiples. We have positive results.

The Chair we called it earlier and as indeed Christophe on our underlying products. So in 2025, the EBITDA growth of companies from those companies bought out is in excess of 12%. This is a dynamic figure. In '24, it stood at plus 14%. I'm not going to predict what we'll have this year, but growth in revenue remains quite strong, and this includes -- so it's a positive trend.

Now the caveat is that we are in the world that was -- that has been described by the Chair. In other words, none of us can forecast the duration and the impact of the Middle East crisis. Disruption arising from new technologies is going to, however, continue. Fundamentally, you have a healthy portfolio represented by growth companies, what had to be dealt with has been dealt with. So under normal conditions, it should resume value creation, including for the accounting aspect.

So if I understand the question, the question is what are the 3 criteria we look at to shortlist the company or decide to invest. Of course, it depends. But as concerns buyout in mid-cap, what we look at is, of course, growth, growth. That's organic growth, very important indeed. A company which grows, in fact, gives us hope to get return regardless of what the multiples do. Even if they do -- if they drop by 20%, we can stay in an extra year to increase our return.

For instance, the organic growth of DO is 50% of the value.

Second criterion, resilient companies with recurring income. If you have recurring income such as Eurazeo in Asset Management, with that, you get stable results over time with growth and a prospering business disconnected, if at all possible, from the economic cycles. And that is important. When you do buyout with leverage, you need to have a stable income over time, therefore, recurring income.

And thirdly, for us, what we also feel is vital is profitable companies. Growth and profitability can go together. And in buyout operations, having a profitable business means that you can have proper valuation and a significant return expected at the end with very limited standard variations. For instance, the 2 to 4x return on investment.

We have very often more than 25% of IRR and all of this is related to our strict criteria and our increasingly stringent criteria. Thank you.

Thank you for your question. From the private debt point of view, there are 3 things. First of all, the state of the market. So basically validating the positioning of the company on the market and the market drivers of the market, both domestically and internationally.

Second element, the financial performance, that is key, too. It is essential for us to check that there is a historic performance that is sustainable and fairly predictable.

And lastly, maybe not the least important, but third element we look at is management. And that, too, is a key feature in the creation of growth of a company. We have to confirm that there's a long history of involvement of the management through incentives, for instance, to support long-term growth.

To add maybe to all of this, what you have to understand is that at Eurazeo, the heart of our business is not so much identification, but really the work we do is all about the period of time during which we finance these companies. We do a number of things. We help the businesses to consolidate their industry. For instance, we help the French champion to consolidate on the European market, meaning that when we divest, we sell off the European leader by that time.

Then we help these companies develop internationally. I mean, we have offices in China, not so much to externalize or outsource production in China. No, of course, not. It's to increase the sale of French and European products in China. So second, internationalization.

Thirdly, as you know, we are leaders in supporting AI. We believe in French AI. We invest in SMEs nowadays. And they know that they require assistance and innovation, which is the key to the future.

But as Sophie was saying also, we help our companies better adjust and adapt to climate change. And indeed, if we help them understand and adapt to this, it's, of course, in line with our values. It's important, but it also means we can sell them off for more. So yes, we are identifying the right kind of businesses, but we are helping them to speed up so much faster than their competitors. And it is in this -- during that period of assistance of support of financing that the work is done mainly.

So I'm sure you've understood that by investing in Eurazeo, you are contributing to financial sovereignty. And I am not gesting when I say this. It is, of course, a private company, 100% private company, but we are helping bring about French and European champions, those that were, well, looked down upon by the European political and governing classes. who were quite opposed to the risk of concentration and the threats to competition. But the world has changed. It's tight, and we realize that.

We have the U.S. and China against us and maybe Europe against them. If we do it right and focus on tomorrow's technologies, if we and similar companies do this. Of course, we have to bring about performance for the benefit of our competitors, but we have to be very lucid, very realistic when we realize that there are very valuable and interesting companies that just don't have the right kind of financial backing yet, as Christophe and others were saying. I mean, nowadays, companies are global from day 1. It used to be that you could work in 1 or 2 countries to start with, but now you have to be global from the start.

And in private equity, in debt-related business, that is something that people have to understand, and that's what makes us different.

I believe there'll be more questions. I can see 2 questions, one here, one down there. Of course, we're very mindful of what's being said at the back of the room.

Can't hear you, but we will hear you. Microphone 4.

A private investor. On Resolution 2 and the dividend, the dividend is much bigger than the net result for last year with EUR 45 million today, we're paying out EUR 204 million dividends with the allocation and bringing forward. Why is your policy to increase necessarily dividend?

Second question on Resolution 8. Mrs. Richardson as a nonvoting member. I'm not sure if I read this, but is this something that comes out of the Richardson Pact? Do you have to have under that compact, someone of the Richardson family as a nonvoting member?

And then on the David Vale compact, there's a new priority negotiation right? Is this something you're going to want to include in other shareholder packs? Have you already tried it out? And has it already been turned out -- turned down, I mean? share buyback, there's this 10% limit every 24 months. Do you already have a large share of equity stock, are you going to try and go beyond that 10% per 24 months limit.

As for the appointments to the Supervisory Board for 2027, 2031. Is this something fairly standard? Or is it a bit exceptional? And are there -- will there be questions? Or is it an issue to try and give a new boost to the Management Board?

Okay. Thank you. Five questions. Maybe William can take the first one on dividend. And then maybe Gabriel, on the Richardson and David Vale compact and maybe on share buyback. And then on the assessment of the Supervisory Board in the usual regular makeup, Gabriel can try and address that one.

Yes. Thank you. I'll try and combine dividend and share buyback in my answer. We have to bear in mind the yearly cash flow generation in a program that fits in with the overall strategy of downsizing the balance sheet as we divest and to give a significant share of it over to our shareholders with share buyback and dividend payouts.

If you look at the accounts, you see that we give back to our shareholders what we produce in the year, EUR 1.5 billion this year, which is a divestment plus cash flow. In many instances, as I said, out of EUR 1.5 billion, EUR 700 million have gone back into the funds, EUR 100 million to reduce the debt and then dividend and share buyback for the outstanding amount. That's how we look at it.

You would have noticed also that EBITDA for asset management is at EUR 206 million. So we try and ensure consistency with this EBITDA so that CFFO in due course becomes self-sustaining for the payout.

As concerns share buyback, we are applying the fairly stringent statutory rules. They're quite complex insofar as it combines the number of shares we can hold at any given time, the number of shares we can buy in any given time, the number of shares we can cancel in a given year. Hence, the 4% limit for 2026. We've said that we'd be at 25% over 4 years.

With what we've done, there will be another 9% for 2027, and we'll have a bit more wiggle room then to act on the amount of shares we can buy.

Gabriel, on the impact, Resolution 8 and Mrs. Richardson.

No, there's no direct link between this and the Richardson Pact. It's a choice made by the Supervisory Board, very excited choice being made that we want to have members of the family on board. It's an issue of trust and loyalty. They have been shareholders and investors for the last 45 years, Mr. Richardson has been on the Board for 30-odd years. They've increased their shareholdings recently, which clearly illustrates the trust and loyalty.

They have chosen to go on investing and they've renewed the family compact. So it's just a renewal of this trust, not related to legal obligations. As concerns the usual first of -- right of first refusal, sorry, this is fairly standard. It enables us to look at protecting the company should there. We have looked at the right of priority negotiation, which is exactly the same that you find in the pack with JCDecaux Holding. So a usual right really.

And as concerns the appointment of the members of the Supervisory Board, you remember that as 10% of companies, we have Supervisory Board and Management Board. When you have a Management Board, you have a set time limit, in this case, 4 years. The term of office runs out in 2027. It, therefore, makes sense -- perfect sense for the appointments Committee -- the Nominations Committee, sorry, to look at goals, objectives for the upcoming period. It's fairly cumbersome, but very open. It will be included in next year's universal registration document. It's a pretty standard and very transparent.

Thank you. We're running out of time, but there was a question over there. Yes, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Private investor, I have a registration card 1026. On the private debt economic model, I understand that in banks, you have deposits and you use that to give out loans and calculate your interest rate. I understand that for you, there's no deposit. There's the cash flow in the balance sheet. What is for you similar to what the interest margin or the return on capital employed?

Well, that's an excellent point. Thank you. As you say, banks are the main lenders to companies. But for very specific cases of private equity and private debt, what you see is that funds finance these companies more than banks. Eric and his team, finance companies, we raise funds and we have investors. I mean it's not Eurazeo's money that's being invested. It's the money of insurance companies, pension funds, investment funds. And as I said, we're currently raising private debt 7. And then we use that money.

And then once the debt is repaid back, we give the money back to the investors. So it's a different way of doing things. Our debt today really matches Eurazeo's strategy. Again, our strategy is to help midsized companies SMEs and help them become global leaders, mainly looking at consolidation, as I said. And the debt we incur helps companies we support buy out 1, 2, 3 competitors and become leaders in their market. So it's acquisition debt, debt that isn't really supported by banks, but more private debt funds, a bit like private equity operates through funds.

Well, private debt operates through funds too.

Question over there, sir.

I was most interested in reading the letters you set out -- sent out on this yearning for a Europeanization. Could you maybe tell us what you make of the changes that one of your colleagues listed on the Paris Stock Exchange has undertaken and looking at buying out large alternative managers in the U.S. and in Europe. Two years ago, for instance, they bought a very large European asset manager and this year, a very large European one. And that has completely changed the group and Europeanized the group. Is that something that you might draw inspiration from? Is that interesting for you?

Well, maybe the Chairman of the -- Co-Chairman of the Management Board can answer.

I suppose that you're mentioning Wendel, which is an investment holding. They are a remaining investment holding, not an asset manager, and they are deploying some of their assets from listed investments, for instance, Bureau Veritas to do private credit in the U.S., Monroe and the business in the EU that you mentioned.

Now Eurazeo is different insofar as it already is a multi-business asset management with the buyout infrastructure in an integrated model. Roughly speaking, we've got some EUR 40 billion of assets under management, so something similar. But we have a very strongly integrated system with IT, front office, back office, managed jointly and all these things that Christophe was mentioning about going global.

Our colleagues from buyout, growth, equity, they're all here today. And that wouldn't be the case if we had scattered assets. So is that an example for us, a model? The answer is no. Our model is actually -- our business model is already beyond that stage. We already have a number of business lines. Does it make sense for Wendel? You'll have to look at it, and they do seem to hold very handsome assets and teams nowadays. But the real issue, I suppose, is could we do M&A to grow.

As the Chairman and ourselves said last year, it isn't a blue. We mentioned this when we looked at the potential growth drivers to speed up our change to scale. Acquisitions may be involved, but we have a limit -- our limit today is our restriction on responsibility. We do not want to dilute our shareholders given the price it is today, we wouldn't have dilution at this price of EUR 49.

Now Wendel's multi-boutique model is Wendel's model. Our model works, integrated approach. when we were mentioning Eurazeo Private was [indiscernible] initially OFIP private equity and has joined. And a number of people here today joined from Innovest a couple of years ago. And I can tell you that integration works. Nowadays, we all -- each of us defend a single Eurazeo brand. And our resources are shared. We all have the same resources, helping our teams to adapt and adjust to climate change. And it doesn't matter whether you're talking about a start-up, a big up SME or whatever.

Those teams are available to all these companies. And we really feel at Eurazeo that the key difference for an investment fund is the kind of support you can extend to investors. And that is always the question that we are being asked. And we, with William are convinced that we have to invest increasingly in those tools that support companies. By pooling these resources, we feel it's more effective than multi-boutique office.

Our Chinese offices were initially thought of to support the more mature companies, but now they're helping all those companies supported by Eurazeo. When you look at the best -- the leaders on the market nowadays, it often is a competition of these platforms compared to multi-boutique approach. Europe has more of a fragmented approach, and it's difficult to -- more difficult to scale up. But I do feel that we're at a turning point where our Eurazeo model has been very encouraging. Of course, we still have to improve, but we are improving.

Question -- one last question in the back of the room.

I have several questions. Private equity companies suffered in the stock market, multifactor reasons. The bankruptcy of first brand can -- Eurazeo has a presence in the U.S.A. Can you give us some indications on what is going on there in private lending or private equity?

Have you second, has -- at a risk on refinancing in the high interest rate environment further to persistent inflation due to the global energy crisis.

My last question concerns stock market IPOs. Do you intend to introduce some of your portfolio companies?

Christophe will take the first question. William, the second.

Well, presence in the U.S.A. We're only in Europe in private debt. We're very much Euroland geared the U.K. funds exist. We're very strong on the rest of Europe. Private debt, we only have a business called Eurazeo Capital that has 25% of its assets in the United States. So across a group level, this is relatively minor, but we have a lot of our companies. A lot of our companies are seeking to export to the United States. So the economic slowdown in America is affecting everyone. But clearly, this is no longer a major area of growth for Eurazeo, we have limited exposure.

Regarding the cost of financing, our policy is relatively prudent compared to our peers in terms of drivers or leverage, in particular, in our buyout fund. We have a systematic policy whereby we hedge.

In other words, on the contractual maturity of the funding that is set up, we are relatively not really sensitive to interest rate shift. And we've seen examples with interest rate hikes. We have a 70% hedge ratio, whereas on our buyout, we're even higher on real estate, for example, almost 90% Debt itself is fairly immune to interest rate fluctuations because it's floating rate debt. So the return for the end investor is not really directly impacted by value shifts arising from interest rate fluctuations over time.

Regarding IPOs, our model is that we want to be the leader, the leading platform in Europe. We're already very European. France accounts for no more than 30%. And we want to be the market leader in mid-caps. We're positioning on innovative companies, high-growth companies that are all the exit will be done over the counter between companies or sometimes between funds. There are some examples, unicorns, for example, in our exposure. And there were 2 in particular, where we have exposure. The excellent companies. One is Dr. Lib and the other one is a back market worth several billion.

And the best choice may in future indeed be a stock market listing. But we're talking about a horizon of no longer than -- no earlier than '27 or '28 given their maturity in terms of development and the state of the market.

Thank you, shareholders, for those questions, reflecting your interest in our group. So I'll now call on Gabriel Kunde to move on to the vote on the resolutions.

Thank you, Chair. Before we move on to the last stage, the final quorum is 69.72% and I'll show you the video explaining how to use the voting tablet.

Shareholders, the tablet that has given to you when you signed on the attendance is strictly personal. The number of voting rights that you have or are represented has been loaded on to the tablet and all you have to do is press the green, yellow or red button.

The green button means a vote in favor. The yellow button means you abstain and the red button is a vote against. After reading each of the resolutions, you will immediately be able to vote. And we will start off by saying voting begins, and you will see a rectangle on the screen, which shows the countdown, which is the number of seconds that you have to vote.

When the countdown is over, the announcement will be that voting ends, you will no longer be able to vote. Display of results will be on the screen displayed a few seconds after the end of the vote. So -- and also please switch off your mobile phones throughout the vote, and please hand back the tablets when you leave the room. Thank you.

So please take your voting tablets. Resolution #1. Approval of the company financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025. Voting begins.

[Voting]

Voting ends. Resolution adopted. Resolution #2, allocation of net income and dividend distribution. Voting begins.

[Voting]

Voting ends. Resolution adopted. Resolution #3 Approval of the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025. Voting begins.

[Voting]

Voting ends. Resolution adopted. Resolution #4, approval of agreements and commitments governed by Article. Voting opens.

[Voting]

Voting ends. Resolution adopted. Resolution #5, approval of an agreement governed by the French Commercial Code between the company and some company shareholders, including David. Please vote.

[Voting]

Voting complete. Resolution adopted. Resolution #6, renewal of the term of office of Math a member of the Supervisory Board. Please vote.

[Voting]

Resolution adopted. Resolution #8, appointment of Madam Richardson as a nonvoting member. Please vote.

[Voting]

Voting complete. Resolution adopted. Resolution #9, approval of the 2026 compensation policy for members of the Supervisory Board. Please vote.

[Voting]

Resolution adopted. Resolution #10, approval of the 2026 compensation for the Executive Board members. Please vote.

[Voting]

Voting complete. Resolution adopted. Resolution #11, approval of information relating to corporate officer compensation as presented in the corporate governance report. Please vote.

[Voting]

Voting complete resolution adopted. Resolution #12. Approval of compensation and benefits paid or awarded in respect of 2025 to Mr. Jean-Carlesour, Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Please vote.

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Voting complete. Resolution adopted. Resolution #13, approval of compensation and benefits paid in respect of 2025 to Mr. William Kadouch-Chassaing member of the Executive Board. Please vote.

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Voting complete. Resolution adopted. Resolution #14, approval of compensation and benefits paid or awarded in respect of 2025 to Mr. Christoph Baviere of the Executive Board. Please vote.

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Voting complete. Resolution adopted. Resolution 15, approval of compensation and benefits paid or awarded in respect of fiscal year '25 to Sophie Flak. please vote.

[Voting]

Approved. Resolution 16, approval of compensation benefits paid and awarded in respect of FY '25 to give member of the Executive Board on March 17, 2025. Please vote.

[Voting]

Voting complete. Approved. 17, Authorization of share buyback program by the company for its own shares. Please vote.

[Voting]

Approved. 18, appointment of KPMG SA as principal statutory auditor. Please vote.

[Voting]

Voting complete Approved. 19, Delegation of authority to the Executive Board to increase share capital by capitalizing reserve profits or shares merger contribution premiums. Please vote.

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Voting complete. Approved. 20 delegation of authority to the Executive Board to issue shares and/or securities being access immediately or in the future share capital with potential right, open.

[Voting]

Voting complete. Approved. 21 delegation [indiscernible] or securities granting access immediately in the future share capital with cancellation of preferential subscription rights. Please Vote.

[Voting]

Voting complete. Approved. 22, delegation of authority Executive Board to issue shares and/or securities granting access immediately on the future share capital with cancellation of preferential subscription rights by way of public. Please vote.

[Voting]

Voting complete. Approved. 23, authorization granted to the Executive Board to increase the number of securities or otherstruments be issued in the event of subscriptions. Please vote.

[Voting]

Voting complete. Approved. 24, delegation of powers to the Executive Board to issue shares and/or security granting access immediately or in the future share capital with cancellation and preparation of subscription rights in contribution for contributions in kind. Please vote.

[Voting]

Voting complete. Approved. 25, delegation of authority to the Executive Board to issue ordinary shares and/or securities granting access to share capital reserve for members of the company savings plan. Please vote.

[Voting]

Voting complete. Approved. 26, overall ceiling of the amount of shares and securities issued under resolution 20 to 24. Please vote.

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Voting complete. Approved. 27 amendments of Article 23 of the bylaws relating to the modernization of the way commercial companies communicate with their shareholders. Please vote.

[Voting]

Voting complete. Approved. Final resolution to carry out formalities. Please vote.

[Voting]

Voting complete. Approved. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Gabriel. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, we have come to the end of this assembly. On behalf of the Supervisory Board, the Executive Board and all our staff, I'd like to thank you for your trust, loyalty, attendance and your questions. See you again next year. Thank you and goodbye.

[Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]

Good morning. Thank you for joining this call. Christophe and I are pleased to welcome you to our 2025 full year results presentation. Our presentation will be in 3 parts. First, I will share with you key financial and nonfinancial highlights for 2025. Second, Christophe will focus on fundraising, client franchise development and asset rotation. Third and last, I will detail our financial results. We will then be available to take your questions.

2025 was another year of growth for Eurazeo. We continued to execute well on our strategic road map in spite of a still complex environment. First, we delivered strong growth in asset management. We continued to gain market share, which reflects the relevance of our positioning and the strength of our distribution capabilities. Fundraising reached EUR 5.5 billion in 2025, up 28% compared to last year. AUM from third party rose by a strong 15% year-on-year. We expanded our client franchise, adding 44 new institutional clients, whilst our AUM in wealth increased by 16%. Third-party management fees grew by 10% in the Private Markets segment. And profitability continues to improve. FRE margin reached 36%, up 40 basis points year-on-year. And PREs are starting to deliver. PREs from third parties tripled to EUR 11 million.

Second, balance sheet realizations were up 44% at EUR 1.5 billion. We reached a rotation rate of 20% that we had announced, which is much better than the market. Thanks to the dynamic pace of realizations, we were able to return to our shareholders an additional EUR 600 million of capital whilst deleveraging. Third, we kept a prudent approach on valuations in an environment that was and still is overall volatile. As per our guidance, portfolio value was slightly down at minus 1.6%, excluding foreign exchange impact in 2025.

Trend has improved in the second year -- second half of the year, and our portfolio companies continue to show positive momentum with a 12% EBITDA growth in buyout as a case in point in 2025. This is positive entering into 2026. We are now 2 years into the execution of our 4-year plan, and this is time for us to take stock of where we stand. We are tracking ahead of plan on expanding and scaling our client franchise, Christophe will come back to that, with a growing number of institutional clients and a rising share of international LPs and also continued expansion in wealth solutions.

We are among the winning private market platforms in Europe. We are on track on earnings growth. FRE margin is above 35% and continues to grow. PREs are starting to contribute more meaningfully and the asset management cash profile is on plan, thanks to double-digit third-party fee growth and reduced reliance on the balance sheet. We are also on track in implementing the shift towards an asset-light model and enhancing shareholder return. We have outperformed the market on realizations, and we have already distributed around EUR 1 billion of capital back to our shareholders.

Portfolio value creation was disappointing in 2024 and 2025. We had to mark down legacy assets. We reflected the downward multiples in some sectors, and we faced unfavorable ForEx headwinds. We saw a marked improvement in the second half of 2025 and expect that trend to continue going forward as the operational performance of our portfolio companies remains healthy.

We also continue to reinforce our leadership in sustainability and impact. Assets dedicated to environment and health care solutions reached EUR 6.1 billion in 2025, representing around 16% of total AUM. Our impact strategies contributed about EUR 460 million of 2025 inflows, i.e., roughly 9% of total fundraising with EPBF securing EUR 360 million towards the EUR 750 million target and SME II in debt completing a first closing at EUR 175 million.

On climate alignment, 28% of eligible private equity portfolio companies now have SBTi validated targets above our 25% objective for end of '25. 70% of the eligible portfolio is on the SBTi pathway with an ambition of 100% by 2030. These achievements complement strong external assessments.

With that overview, I will hand over to Christophe for fundraising and asset rotation.

Thank you, William. Let's now focus on the operational performance of our asset management, starting with fundraising. As William mentioned, 2025 was a record year for fundraising with third-party inflows of EUR 5.5 billion, up again, 28%. This is the third year in a row with a more than 20% increase in fundraising level. And fundraising was well balanced between debt and equity, reflecting the strength of Eurazeo's diversified product slate. By strategy, private equity raised EUR 2.7 billion, up 64%, including EPC V closing at EUR 3 billion above target. EPBF securing more than 40% of its EUR 750 million target, as William was mentioning and PME V already above EUR 650 million fundraised.

Growth achieved a first closing for EGF IV at EUR 650 million and venture strategies raised over EUR 100 million. Secondaries and mandates collected more than EUR 800 million. Private debt raised EUR 2.7 billion, up 8% with obviously, our flagship fund, EPD VII in direct lending, reaching EUR 3.5 billion by the end of -- by the year-end 2025. And there is more to come as in 2026, at the beginning of this year, we received a request from LPs to increase the cap at 3.9%. This breadth across strategies and channels underpin Eurazeo market share gains.

Eurazeo is gaining market share, delivering on the promise we made during our Capital Market Day. Taking 2019 as a base, Eurazeo's annual fundraising is up 126% compared to plus 33% increase for the European market, which, as you can see, has regained some strength recently compared to the global market, which is down minus 7%. In absolute terms, we scaled from EUR 2.4 billion to EUR 5.5 billion over this period, underscoring the strength of Eurazeo platform and the breadth of our client franchise.

Now I would like to take a moment to walk you through the private debt franchise, which, as you already know, is a highly differentiated platform. Let's look at the progression by vintage. It is clear and deliberate. The EPD IV program reached EUR 400 million. EPD VI scaled at EUR 3.2 billion. And the total program of EPD VII, including wealth and mandates could surpass EUR 5 billion this year in 2026. This scaling cements our leadership in small to mid-cap direct lending, and it accelerates the internationalization of our LP base as it is a good entry point for new investors and supports larger, more global deal flow. The franchise continues to generate an average fee rate above 80 basis points, a premium to more vanilla credit strategies, and it reflects the alpha generated by our team in this specific segment of the mid-market, the European mid-market.

We continue to expand and internationalize Eurazeo's institutional base with a net addition, as William was mentioning, of 44 new LPs in 2025. The number of Eurazeo's institutional clients has now reached over 500. Our client base grew by an average of 25 -- plus 25% per annum since 2022. The share of institutional inflows from outside France rose to 71% in 2025 compared to 37% back in the 2018, 2020 years. And this reflects strong contribution from the rest of Europe and the rest of the world, demonstrating Eurazeo's ability to win blue-chip LP mandates across regions.

Growing our franchise is not only a testament to the quality of our investment approach and teams, it is also a springboard for future growth. Our experience is that once trust is established, large institutional LPs subscribe to more of our funds over time. As we have mentioned, we continued to expand our wealth solution franchise with EUR 922 million raised in 2025. We are now reaching EUR 5.8 billion of AUM in this specific wealth solution, the franchise, as compounded at a rate of plus 18% per annum, supported by our blockbuster Evergreen EPV II. It has now surpassed EUR 3.5 billion in AUM and ranks top 3 in Europe.

We are broadening our European footprint with traction in the Benelux and new distribution partnerships in Italy, Germany and Switzerland. And we officially launched the Eurazeo Prime evergreen program -- evergreen line at the end of 2025 with EPIC in private credit and EPSO in private equity. We continue to invest in brand recognition, and it is paying off. We were among the most recognized fund manager at IPM Wealth 2026 awards with 3 collective prizes and 1 individual award. Looking ahead, the 2026 pipeline is solid, well diversified with both flagship funds and more thematic and wealth-oriented offerings.

Let me start with funds targeting institutional LPs. In private debt, EPD VII continues to be very successful and high in demand. It is going to do a final close soon, and it will be reaching its new hard cap. We expect to be launching EPD VIII in not-too-distant future. And we are also on the road with our asset-based vehicle, SME II. In equities, as you can see, we have a strong pipeline with flagship fund in buyout. PME V has already a good traction and should be among the highlights of the year. ESF V in secondaries and EGF IV in growth, both accelerate their fundraising. And finally, in real assets, we are launching the fundraising of our second vintage in infrastructure, ELTIF II, and we will be collecting for the EZORE fund in operational real estate.

In wealth, inflows in our evergreen fund, EPV III remain dynamic, but it's complemented by the rollout of EPIC and EPSO internationally. Our 2026 fundraising pipeline is underpinned by the strong ongoing performance across strategies with all recent vintages in particular, showing top-notch track records. All Eurazeo private debt funds have shown top quartile track record and very low default rates. Our seventh vintage, EPD VII is obviously benefiting from that. ESF IV and V, our latest secondary funds are delivering gross IRR of 14% each. EGF IV in gross equity has a good start, I would say, a very good start with plus 10% gross value creation in 2025 with premium investment in deep tech and AI and the exit of Cognigy leading to best-in-class DPI of already 30%.

PME IV post a strong 29% gross IRR and top decile DPI of 40%. In real estate, EZORE benefits from the strong track record of the 2 balance sheet programs in real estate with top quartile performances above 20% IRR and strong DPI. And finally, in infrastructure, ETIF I's portfolio gross IRR is at 13%, supported by strong tailwinds.

Deployments. Deployments totaled EUR 5.3 billion in 2025 compared to EUR 4.6 billion in 2024. In private equity, we deployed EUR 2.2 billion with high-quality companies like, for example, Mapal in Spain, Ekoscan in France, OMMAX in Germany, 3P in Belgium and Dexory in the U.K. In private debt and secondaries, pacing is fully in line with objectives. At year-end, EPD VII was invested at 61% and ESF V in secondary was invested at 53%.

In real estate, we invested in Aquardens in Italy, Water Direct in the U.K., terralayr in Germany. So we enter 2026 with dry powder of EUR 6.2 billion, up 15% year-on-year and EUR 2 billion of balance sheet commitment, positioning the platform to capture attractive opportunities with a total dry powder of EUR 8.2 billion.

Now realization. We continued our good momentum on realization after a pickup in 2024 at group level realization totaled EUR 3.1 billion in 2025 compared to EUR 3.4 billion in 2024. Private equity exits reached EUR 1.9 billion, confirming the group's ability to monetize assets on strong terms. In private debt, realization were at EUR 1.2 billion, slightly ahead of last year, reflecting steady portfolio turnover. As far as 2026 is concerned, we have a good pipeline of potential exits, and we have already closed and announced 2 deals, Fermax and EX NIHILO.

Let me take some time to highlight the quality of our realization. As you can see, we continued in 2025 to crystallize strong value creation, continuing our track record of 2.1 gross realized MOIC since 2012 and consistent uplift to latest marks. Again, we have a good start for 2026 with the closing of Fermax and EX NIHILO. Realizations and distributions are top priorities for LPs and a key factor in the transformation of our business model. It will remain an area of focus for us and our teams in the years to come.

Thank you for your attention. And William, over to you for the financial results.

Thank you, Christophe. I will now take you through the financial results for 2025. Let me start with the asset management activity. As said, we delivered double-digit growth in both third-party AUM and fee-paying AUM. At the end of 2025, total AUM were EUR 39 billion, up 8% over 1 year with third-party AUM standing at EUR 30 billion, an increase of 15%. Fee-paying AUM reached EUR 28 billion, up 8%, driven by third-party fee-paying AUM, which were up 12% while balance sheet fee-paying AUM declined 2% as we continue to reduce the weight of our balance sheet. Of note, let me stress that our fee-paying AUM ratio to total AUM continues to stand high at around 72%.

Management fees came in at EUR 435 million in 2025, up 3% year-on-year. Third-party management fees totaled EUR 322 million, up 7.5% at constant currency. Private markets fees, core of our business, increased by 10% to EUR 237 million, supported by strong fundraising momentum, as said, and higher third-party fee-paying AUM with the average fee rate holding firm at around 120 basis points, which compares well with the rest of the industry. IM Global Partners came in at EUR 85 million of management fees, down 2%, mainly affected by a ForEx headwind, dollar exchange rate headwinds of minus 4%, while AUM and revenues in U.S. dollar grew by 2%.

And balance sheet-related management fees were EUR 113 million, down 5%. This reflects completed disposals and lower balance sheet commitments in the funds, which is fully consistent with the asset-lighter strategy announced at end 2023. Fee-related earnings increased to EUR 356 million with the FRE margin up 40 basis points year-on-year to approximately 36%. We already reached our midterm target range of 35% to 40%. The uplift reflects healthy third-party fee growth, as said, combined with tight cost control. Costs were only up 3% in 2025.

EBITDA from the asset management activities is the first time we give you the EBITDA now, and we will do that in the next quarters and years. EBITDA from the asset management activity was EUR 206 million, up 12%. This is consistent with a 44% margin, a more than 2 points gain year-on-year. Realized performance fees reached EUR 33 million, doubling versus last year with a portion coming from third parties tripling to EUR 11 million. Several funds are approaching distribution threshold that will allow for more meaningful recognition of performance fees over a midterm investment cycle as we committed, PRE should progressively represent around 10% of third-party revenue. We continue to grow the base of our third-party management fees as well as performance fees. Thus, our asset management business has turned into a positive and growing cash flow contributor for the group.

Let me turn to the results of the investment company. At the end of 2025, net portfolio value amounted to EUR 6.8 billion with the following drivers: Organic value change was a slight decline of minus 1.6% as per our guidance. The good momentum in earnings in our portfolio was compensated by multiple compression in some segments, which, for a large part, we had anticipated and still unfavorable cap rates in real estate. ForEx accounted for 2.5% minus 2.5% and perimeter effect accounted to minus 9%, in line with the expected downsizing of our balance sheet that we had announced.

As you can see, value creation in the second half of the year improved quite significantly relative to the first half as the operational metrics of the underlying portfolio continue to be healthy. We now expect to post positive value creation going forward. This assumes, obviously, some stabilization of current high market volatility. Portfolio value per share stood at EUR 102.1 at the end of 2025. This is down 5% in spite of a perimeter effect of minus 9% and value creation of minus 4%. The accretion from buybacks, hence, meaningfully enhances per share value, which is consistent with our capital allocation priorities.

As said, our portfolio companies delivered a solid performance in 2025, another year, I should say, of solid performance with a pretty strong Q4 overall. Buyout companies delivered robust progress with revenues up 7% and EBITDA up 12%, supported by a clear acceleration in the second half. In Growth & Venture, fundamentals remain sound. Average revenue growth was 14%. The most recent EGF IV investments are scaling fast and even faster at around 40% growth in average. In real estate, hospitality revenues were up 3% and infrastructure continued to perform strongly with a 30% year-on-year revenue growth.

The investment activity was logically -- the contribution was logically mainly driven by noncash elements and amounted to minus EUR 552 million in 2025 with EUR 351 million pertaining to fair value change and EUR 113 million of management fees from the asset management activity. This is an interco flow. Strategic management costs and financial expenses were both roughly stable and fairly low. Consolidated net income group share was minus EUR 403 million. Asset management contributed plus EUR 161 million, while the investment activity, as just said, contributed minus EUR 552 million, mainly noncash.

Let's move now on to the balance sheet realizations. Balance sheet divestments totaled EUR 1.5 billion in 2025. This is up 44% over 1 year. And this represented about 20% of the 2024 year-end portfolio value, completely in line with our guidance. We are entering 2026 with a diversified pipeline of exits and aim to maintain our good pace of rotation. Let me remind together with Christophe that over the first 2 years of the plan, we have exited EUR 2.6 billion of balance sheet assets, representing around 31% of the 2023 year-end NAV. These exits have generated an average gross cash-on-cash multiple of 2.1x, an average gross IRR of about 21% and an average uplift on the latest mark of about 14%. This highlights, in our view, the quality of our portfolio, the overall conservativeness of the way we are marking our assets and our ability to monetize them. This bodes well for the future development.

Return to shareholders, which is obviously #1 priority in capital allocation, as you know. In 2025, we returned EUR 189 million in dividends with a dividend per share up 10%. We will propose an ordinary dividend of EUR 2.92 per share, a further 10% increase versus last year with an expected cash out of around EUR 200 million in 2026. Loyalty premium of 10% will be paid to registered shareholders holding their shares for more than 2 years within the 0.5% legal ownership threshold. Over '24-'26, i.e. 3 years, cumulative dividends will have reached EUR 600 million.

Our share buyback program remains active. Since launch, we have executed about EUR 600 million of buybacks over '24-'25 or about 12% of the share count. In 2026, we plan to buy back 4% additionally to this 12% for about EUR 200 million, which will bring the cumulative buyback over '24-'26 to about EUR 800 million. Very importantly, through 2027, our objective remains to purchase around 25% of total shares, i.e., approximately 45% of the free float. The sequencing of execution in '26-'27 is driven by our ability to maximize regulatory volumes each year whilst remaining continuously active in the market.

To conclude, as we have now executed 2 years of our strategic plan, let us recall the 3 pillars of our equity story. First, we are building a leader in an attractive private market industry. Second, we delivered steady earnings growth revenue expansion and disciplined cost management. And third, we returned significant capital to shareholders, accelerating our shift towards an asset-light business model.

Thank you for your attention. We can now open the Q&A session.

[Operator Instructions] We will now take our first question from Nicolas Vaysselier of BNP Paribas.

Just 2 questions for me. The first one will be regarding your exposure to software and more broadly tech. Could you clarify what is the percent exposure on the balance sheet portfolio for both software and broader tech? And then I wanted to ask regarding your valuation on NAV as of December 2025. Obviously, a big part of the rout for software companies happened in January and February. So I was wondering to what extent you have reflected this market move already in the NAV as of December '25. And also, I seem to remember already in '24, you were mentioning downward pressure on some SaaS multiples that were a bit reflected in your NAV. So I'm wondering to what extent the rout we've seen for software companies has been reflected in your valuation.

Then my second question would be on the third-party management fees. It's good to see the increase this quarter. I suppose the fundraising in private equity has helped with high fee margin, but I was wondering to what extent you also had catch-up fees in Q4, if any?

Okay. Well, thank you, Nicolas. Let me start with the exposure at group level. I mean we operate and manage EUR 39 billion of assets under management. And if you want to compare the type of exposure, the risk appetite of Eurazeo relative to the peers that have already published, you need to take the full AUM. Simply put, the number is 10% ex the Venture & Growth strategies, and it's a bit more than 15% at group level if you take stock of -- you include the Venture & Growth exposure that we have, and that's very consistent with the market a tad lower than some peers. Why is it a bit lower? Because we have very low exposure in debt, 9%. We'll come back with Christophe, if you have more questions as to what we mean by exposure to software and debt. We are very disciplined in the type of leverage we take is a bit different than the rest of the market, a bit more cautious. We have 0 exposure in, obviously, real assets. We have very little exposure in secondaries, et cetera.

Now if you stick to the balance sheet, which is your question, there's a bit more exposure logically because of the fact that balance sheet is composed of 60% roughly of buyout and 24% of Growth & Venture. So you would have in total, something like 16%, 17% exposure ex Growth & Venture and going above 25%, including Growth & Venture. I think that answers quite clearly your comment or question on the exposure.

Now you touched on a very important element. How are these assets valued? And you remember that we had some pushback from the market when we were saying the whole of 2025, and you're nice enough to remember what we had already said in 2024 that no, not all the multiples were up. In fact, the decrease in multiples and valuation of SaaS models has started much before January, February 2026, if you really look at what happened. And this is the reason why, amongst other things, in spite of seeing good performance of our underlying portfolios, including in SaaS. I have to say that most of the companies that we have that would qualify under software are at or above budget for 2025, and they all show high single-digit or double-digit EBITDA growth.

Yet we have decided to be very cautious on multiples. Why we've decided to be disciplined, because we were seeing already some decrease, but also because we want to maintain the calibration that we have at the outset, i.e., a discount, using a discount to the multiple we see in the market. So this is what we have continued to do. So it's very hard to predict what can happen in the multiples of such a large sector going forward. What I can say, together with Christophe, is that we have already factored in that pressure pretty much in '24 and '25. And so given the underlying performance of the companies we are invested into, that should be seen as a positive on your side.

You didn't ask it, but we are ready with Christophe to answer to you also about the qualitative elements that needs to be taken into consideration when talking about software and tech. We are talking about very different business models. Some of these business models are very resilient to what's happening in AI because they adapt to the AI opportunities. They have added on the product slate, a lot of AI products. Take the Doctorlib in our portfolio, for example, that's a case in point, or they have very, very strong barriers to entry. Take DiliTrust in the Elevate portfolio. I mean they manage software for compliance and this -- in the finance industry, in particular and beyond. And that obviously goes with very, very strong barriers to entry in managing that type of complexity. So I mean, the generic software comment is always a bit easy. Now third-party management fees, yes, we have catch-up fees. So it's about 8% roughly adjusted for foreign exchange, of which 3% pertains to catch-up fees.

And we'll now take our next question from Alexandre Gerard of CIC CIB.

I have 3 questions. Can we have a better feel of any assets maybe in your portfolio that could be directly exposed to the current geopolitical situation? I don't know maybe tourism-related companies. So if we could have a better feel of that.

Second question also regarding asset rotation in 2026. Do you expect to be ahead of 20% in terms of asset rotation? And can you -- or have you already communicated on the value creation on the 2 deals that you have already announced? I'm talking about Fermax and EX NIHILO in terms of euros per share.

And third question also same thing for 2026 in terms of fundraising, given the fact that you raised EUR 5.5 billion, which is a very high amount in 2025. Do you expect to be ahead of that level in 2026? And can you remind us also the funds that will be marketed in 2026?

Okay. I'll take the first one, and Christophe will take the outlook on fundraising. Assets in the portfolio that may be impacted by the current geopolitical crisis, by definition, if this -- what's happening would translate into a severe, a prolonged economic crisis, you can assume that most of the assets that in any portfolio will feel some implications that would be silly to say otherwise.

Now in reality, we are not very exposed to industrial. And so we don't feel so much impact from the energy prices moves. That's the first point. We don't have much exposure to the Middle Eastern markets in terms of the underlying growth of the companies we have in the portfolios. We have clients in our funds in the Middle East and loyal and large clients, but we don't have much exposure to this market. So I don't expect, in a nutshell, much impact, absent, of course, severe deterioration in the macro data, which allows me to say that what we've seen in Q4, and you've seen some data points, particularly pertaining to Europe and the U.S. in the beginning of the year, we've seen rather the contrary, an improvement in the overall macro environment so far.

Rotation. So we want to stick to what we've said. We are cautious people. We deliver -- it's been 3 years that we deliver back what we've said we would do. So we are saying to you, we have a good pipeline. We have already started to execute some of this pipeline, and we'll keep the pace. It's probably consistent with, yes, our capacity to reach the average pace of 20%.

And then you had a question on the markups. You can see that Fermax as well as EX NIHILO were sold at very significant marks uplift relative to the last mark. So that would be translated into the H1 numbers.

Thank you. And if it goes to obviously fundraising prospects in 2026, as you know, we don't give guidance for the year. But yes, you are right to mention that the momentum is still very strong. And where Eurazeo has a very strong point is that, first, our product offering is highly diversified. We are offering -- we are fundraising this year private debt vehicles, and we benefit again from the fact that private debt #7 is increasing its hard cap. So we will benefit at the beginning of this year of this increase of the hard cap.

So when we -- it's already something that we are currently finalizing. And there is still strong demand for private debt in Europe. We also have some private equity -- a strong private equity product offering with a combination of funds that are already in the tail end of the fundraising. For example, in secondary, we are in the tail end of the fundraising. And with PME V, we are preparing the first closing with Growth IV, we have already raised the first closing, and we are benefiting from an acceleration of demand in this field.

And if we talk about real estate, the real estate we will have in 2 products. Infrastructure, the demand is still very strong. And again, we focus on a specific segment of the infrastructure, which is energy transition infrastructure in the mid-market. So this is a very differentiated product. And in real estate, we also benefit from the fact that it is a very differentiated product. It's operational real estate. So it's something very different than what the competition can offer.

We are also very diversified by geography. And there is still -- we still benefit from a general movement where Europe and more specifically mid-market in Europe is perceived by more and more international investors, especially from Asia, for example, as a relatively predictable investment universe, relatively safe. So we are benefiting from that. And last, by market, we are also very diversified. Wealth management and institutional investors don't behave the same way. So to keep a long answer short, we benefit from a very diversified opportunities in terms of deal flow. And yes, we intend to maintain the good momentum in fundraising.

[Operator Instructions] And we'll now move on to our next question from Arnaud Palliez of CIC CIB.

Can you give us some details about liquidity on your fund? Do you face any issue at this level, especially in real estate and wealth management. As you know, this is a concern in the U.S. So I would like to know if you are facing the same kind of issue in Europe.

Thank you for that. Yes, we have a strong wealth management vehicle. And we have also to say it clearly, we have evergreen vehicles. And the beauty of evergreen vehicle is that you can subscribe at any time, but you can also use gates to withdraw your money. EPV III is our blockbuster. And today, inside EPV III, you have 20% of cash. 20% of cash, which is quite differentiating from some of our peers. And if you look at the gross demand, not the net demand, the gross demand for exits for the new gates that will be at the end of this quarter, it's 0.7%.

So today, first of all, we are not facing redemption or people are not asking for gates. If it increases, we have the ability to face it. And on top of that, what the number I mentioned is gross, but we also face huge subscription flows. So today, we are very confident on this component of our activities. They are managed -- our evergreen vehicles are managed in a very, very robust way. Regarding real estate, our current investments are done for our balance sheet only. We are launching a new fund. And so we don't have this liquidity issue that can face some of our competitors in third-party managed vehicles.

And we don't intend to go in all asset classes with wealth vehicles. I mean that's a very important thing. Our strong belief with Christophe is that the best underlying that you can have for wealth distribution as it relates to evergreens, i.e., with liquidity windows remains private debt and secondaries, and we will stick to that conservative approach.

And we'll now take our next question from Alexandre Casas of Casas & Associes.

I have 3 question about valuation of Eurazeo stock, please. The first question, could you please give us what are at the end of 2025, the first -- the 5 biggest participation of your portfolio with valuation of EUR 102 per share and the respective valuation of that 5 stocks.

Second question, if my calculations are correct, and with the guidance of the share buyback for the 2 years 2026 and 2027, the total number of shares of Eurazeo at the end of 2027 could be less than 60 million of shares, 59 million of share with my calculation. So that number is to compare to 79 million of share at the end of 2001, so down 25% or 20 million shares less. Are my calculation correct?

And the last question, the number three, you don't give the total net asset value per share since some years. But with the asset valuation and less of the net debt, could we assume that at the end of 2025, your total net asset value per share could be between EUR 115 and EUR 120. So that means that is a discount which is incredible high of 60% to 63%, given the current price of EUR 25. Is this correct valuation?

Well, thank you for your questions. If you allow me, together with Christophe, we will take the questions starting with the end because we think it's a way to approach the valuation of Eurazeo, and thank you for saying that. No, we don't publish any more NAV, including the value of the asset management because we consider as we moved into IFRS 10 back 2 years ago that this is for the market to decide what is the sum of the part of Eurazeo. But along the line of what you said, we have a portfolio of -- on the balance sheet, which is worth EUR 102 roughly, EUR 102.1 million exactly. This is already net of potential capital gain tax, and this is already net of carried due to the teams.

Then we have the valuation of the asset management. That asset management has produced EUR 206 million of EBITDA in 2025. You look at the multiples, even after multiples compression that we have observed in the past quarters, let's say, we are between 15 and 20x EBITDA for '25 and going into '26. So you probably add at least a good EUR 30 per share in -- to the valuation. And then you have the net debt of the group, particularly the nonrecourse debt should be taken into consideration that EUR 916 million, EUR 902 million adjusted for the pro forma sale of EX NIHILO. That's roughly EUR 15 per share. So your calculation, in other words, is pretty good and yet, which means that there is a discount which is significant or there is an unjustified discount in our view for an asset that has demonstrated its capacity to sell its portfolio always, always with an uplift relative to the last mark, an asset manager that is growing double digit and a very, very tight and well-managed leverage, we are operating the company with one of the lowest gearing that we can find in the industry.

So that's, in my view, leaguing it to your point one, we are not dependent upon any specific item in the portfolio. Again, our valuation is a sum of portfolio asset management minus debt. In the portfolio, we have approximately 70 lines that are significant. It's -- they are very high-quality assets. There is no assets that represent more than 7%, 8% of the total, which are the biggest assets in the portfolio. When I tell you which they are, you'll see that they are very good assets. They're all growing double digit and operate with a high EBITDA. Number one, Planet, which is a digital payment platform based in Ireland, operating globally. This is a leader in the digital payment for hospitality in a nutshell. They're growing their EBITDA this year, again, double digit.

And then you have Aroma-Zone, which is growing rather in the 40%, 50% category per annum. I'm talking about revenues and EBITDA. So you see that the largest assets in the portfolio are also very good quality. I could go on and on. We have very good other assets. One of the largest, I think it's #4, #5 in the portfolio assets pertaining to the growth equity portfolio would be Doctolib. Doctolib has a 30% growth and is already at breakeven in a nutshell.

And then on the share buyback, your calculation is correct, which allows me, again, thank you very much for your question to stress to everyone that we're operating one of the very largest deequitization that has been seen in the market for years. So I can appreciate the debase as to the sequencing. We manage, with Christophe, the company in a way that it always sticks to its duties, including regulatory threshold when they may occur. But we are very consistent in implementing that share buyback program aggressively because we think this is the best way to rebalance our business model whilst remunerating our shareholders.

And we'll now take our next question, a follow-up from Nicolas Vaysselier BNP Paribas.

Just 2 quick questions. There's been some headlines last week about you being shortlisted along with some other European managers for managing European Union tech fund. If you can make some comments on potential size and economics for Eurazeo. I appreciate at this stage, it might be difficult for you. And then secondly, you've launched 2 additional evergreen products in wealth this year. I wanted to know what was the traction in terms of fundraising [indiscernible] and what pipeline you see for 2026 in terms of new wealth products?

Okay. Question number one, as you would understand, we will be very prudent in any representation we can do. It's a competitive process with the EU Commission being involved and coordinating the whole process. And so there are -- we have some duties in terms of what we can disclose and not disclose. So the only thing I can say is -- together with Christophe is, number one, we're very proud to be 5 out of a large number of contenders being selected for the final round, which -- and that's my last point on the thing. I mean, it's a dedication, it's a testament to the high quality of what Eurazeo has achieved in the tech space over years. The high quality of the team that is spearheaded by Hal Fadel, which we -- who appointed now 3 years ago as Head of Growth. I mean Christophe mentioned to you, by the way, the performance of EGF IV, which is the performance of our team in charge that has been in charge for 3 years, 10% value creation and already 30% DPI, that's pretty strong. So we'll do everything we can to win that one, but it is obviously very competitive with all the largest and biggest and most prestigious firms in tech Europe being involved.

And to complete on what William just mentioned, it is sometimes better perceived by international investors. So quality of innovation, the quality of business models built in Europe in innovative space in deep tech and in AI is sometimes, so let's say it this way, better perceived by international players by -- rather than by us. Regarding, yes, so evergreen vehicles, yes, our blockbuster today is a French legal structure. It is perfectly adapted to French, for example, life insurance regime. So it's largely used as a unit link inside life insurance contract.

To do the same all over Europe, we needed Luxembourg -- international structure, they are Luxembourg based. And obviously, they are now entirely adapted to serve wealth markets in Italy, Germany, Switzerland and also Benelux due to it's so we are starting we are putting our own money to seed these 2 vehicles so that they can have a track record and a portfolio. It takes time, but we have -- it takes time because we are not selling directly to the end user. We are selecting, we are partnering with banks, insurance companies, independent brokers, independent networks of brokers to get access to the final user. But we currently have a very good list of Italian, German and Swiss names that are interested. Again, let's face it, wealth management as a whole are not overallocated to private equity, private debt or real assets all over Europe.

We have no further questions in the queue currently. Handing it over for webcast questions.

Yes. We have some questions very quickly on the web. One from -- I mean, we have a few from Isobel, but Hettrick from Autonomous. A few of them have already been answered, and I will combine it with an investor's question. Can we expect value creation on the balance sheet at constant exchange rates in 2026? And how long would it take to go back to sort of the historical average of the 10% long-term average?

The 10%, and I should say above long-term average is obviously our minimum goal to begin with. And let me say that when you look at beyond the sequential value creation at the return of the balance sheet investment funds, I mean, we are still double digit across the main categories in terms of IRR. So that's a very important thing to consider for shareholders.

2026, we start the year with a better outlook idiosyncratically. As I said, we have very strong dynamic in the underlying portfolio. Fundamentals are good. Macro environment in Q4 has improved. And that -- and we have been quite prudent in the approach of multiples. So in a nutshell, that should be a positive for 2026. I mean, expect that I will do a little caveat. As we said with Christophe, there is a significant volatility in the markets today with the context that nobody knows where it leads. But fundamentally, ex ForEx and if things stabilize on the overall environment, we are on track for a much better year.

And I have a last question, which I think we already answered partially at least on the share buyback program to know -- I mean, there's those limits, regulatory limits. Are there any opportunities to accelerate the buyback in a synthetic way or any other way to take advantage of the discounted stock valuation at the moment?

This is not our intention. We do things -- we do plain things that are easy to understand. We've already executed 12% the aim is 25%. So we are exactly at the middle of the plan in 2 years out of 4. We'll do an additional 4%. I mean, happy to go into the details of which these limits are, but we will be at 16% at the end of 2026, and we know that we will have some room to execute an additional 8%, 9%, which we have done just in 2025. So we know that we can manage that. By the way, we've done that without relying much on blocks. We've done that mainly in the flow. And remember that we can execute share buybacks with the combination of flow and blocks.

Thank you. There is no further question. So...

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Have a nice day. Bye-bye.

Welcome to the Eurazeo 9 Months 2025 Trading Update Presentation. Today's conference will be hosted by William Kadouch-Chassaing, Co-CEO. [Operator Instructions] Now I will hand the conference over to the speaker. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much. Good morning. Thank you all for joining this call. I'm pleased to welcome you to our trading update for the first 9 months of 2025. To remind everyone, for the trading update, we don't update the NAV that will be done at the end of the year, but I'm, of course, ready for questions you may have on the topic.

In a nutshell, Eurazeo continues to gain market share in asset management. We had another quarter of dynamic fundraising and AUM growth outperforming the market. Second, we continue to outperform the market in realizations and distributions, which is, as you know, a key differentiating factor in the current market environment. And third, the quality of our balance sheet portfolio remains strong with healthy operational metrics across the board and realizations confirming our ability to monetize our balance sheet above its carrying value.

Let me start with fundraising. We raised EUR 3.2 billion from our clients in the first 9 months of 2025, which is 4% above last year and well above market as global fundraising is estimated to be down this year at about 10% according to PitchBook, you may find as well other sources that will go in the same direction. This confirms our ability to gain market share in a more and more competitive and polarized market. This also highlights the quality of our investment franchises, the relevance of Eurazeo positioning as a focused European mid-market investment platform as well as the strength of our distribution capacities. Indeed, we make progress both with institutional and with individual clients.

In terms of asset classes, whilst private debt continues to perform strongly, our private equity franchises have connected well. Private equity fundraising in Q3 was fueled by our secondaries and mandates franchise on top of our earlier successes in H1 in buyout, growth and impact. Our PE fundraising is up 38% year-to-date. Private debt, as I said, had a very good quarter with EUR 800 million raised in Q3 alone, mainly in direct funding. Our flagship EPD VII has already raised around EUR 3 billion in total. On wealth solutions, we raised close to EUR 700 million in the first 9 months, which is 7% more than last year. We just announced that we have received the regulatory approval from the launch of our new evergreen funds in the prime line, EPIC in private debt and EPSO in secondaries. They will support our growth ambitions in Europe. Given our current momentum and pipeline for the rest of the year, we are confident, I should say, very confident that fundraising in 2025 will exceed EUR 4 billion.

We continue to expand and internationalize our client franchise, which is a key strategic objective that we had articulated in our Capital Market Day back in November 2023. We added 29 new institutional clients since the beginning of the year on a base of 440. This is a significant number. 74% of inflows came from international LPs in the first 9 months of the year, a share that continues to grow year after year, as you can see on the chart, with notable successes in Asia, Middle East and the rest of Europe. Our wealth solutions franchise also continues to grow at a steady pace with new distribution partners onboarded and already close to 10% of flows outside of our home market for the first 9 months of 2025. Overall, AUM growth and particularly fee-paying AUM growth illustrate the dynamism of our asset management business. Total assets under management were up 5% in the first 9 months, reaching EUR 37.4 billion. Third-party AUM only, which is a key focus of our strategic plan are up 11%. Fee-paying AUM were up 7% at nearly EUR 28 billion with third-party fee-paying AUM growing at also 11%. Let me stress that we believe this is above market growth.

The decrease in balance sheet-related AUM reflects the successful implementation of our capital allocation strategy. Management fees stood at EUR 316 million for the first 9 months. Fees from third parties are up 5% overall, excluding catch-up fees and ForEx impact and fees from the balance sheet are down 3% year-to-date due to recent exits and reduced commitments in the funds as per the plan. On private market, we experienced strong inflows, which I just referred to, as shown by the rise in fee-paying AUM. It was partly offset by planned rate step-downs in older vintages that have been venture growth and buyouts. We also have a slight mix effect with strong fundraising from private debt and secondary and mandates in recent quarters, which carry a lower yet healthy fee level. IM Global Partners fees are up 4% at constant ForEx. Management fees from the balance sheet are logically down year-on-year, they are down 3% due to exits and reduced commitments in the fund as said.

Let me now turn to deployments and realizations. As a group, Eurazeo deployments reached EUR 3.9 billion over 9 months, which is up 20% from the same period of last year, with transactions reflecting an expanding pan-European investment approach and our focus on structurally growing sectors. We deployed EUR 800 million in Q3 in private equity to support category leaders such as OMMAX, a digital and AI strategy consulting firm in Berlin based in Germany; Filigran, an AI-based cybersecurity firm; and Dexory, a U.K. leader in logistics, robotics and growth. Adcytherix, a developer of innovative oncology treatments and Proteor, a leader in orthotics and prosthetics in healthcare. And in real assets, we invested with MPC OSE in offshore wind farm servicing. Private debt continues to be very active with EUR 900 million deployed in Q3 in a dynamic lower mid-market segment. We are well placed to continue to grasp opportunities with EUR 7.2 billion of firepower, of which EUR 7.2 billion of third-party dry power powder.

Realizations for the first 9 months stood at EUR 2.2 billion. Over the third quarter, we notably announced 2 important exits in buyouts. We sold CPK, a European champion in sugar and chocolate confectionery to Fera County Group, a leading U.S. confectionery linked to the Ferrero Group. The transaction returned around EUR 200 million of additional cash to our balance sheet and was concluded at a price above NAV. We also divested from Ultra Premium Direct, France leading direct-to-consumer pet food brand for approximately EUR 140 million, generating a 2.1x gross cash-on-cash return for the balance sheet. These transactions announced this summer have been closed in October. We also stepped-up realizations across the venture and growth funds with 2 important new exits, the German company, Cognigy and ImCheck. Finally, in private debt realization stood at EUR 600 million for the first 9 months. Several deals are expected to unfold in Q4. Together, these transactions illustrate the quality of our investments and our continued focus on generating liquidity and value for our investors and shareholders. At a time when the main focus of the industry, as you know, revolves around distributions, this is, we see a key competitive advantage for future fundraising.

So let me illustrate that point, starting with buyouts. As you can see on the chart, the pace of distribution to LPs in the market has markedly slowed down in the past 5 years in a challenging and volatile macro environment. This is a topic for the industry. In this context, Eurazeo private equity buyout franchises have been outperforming clearly. Year-to-date, in 2025, Eurazeo's buyout franchise have already returned 10% of the NAV compared to around 5% for the broader market in H1 according to industry estimates. Looking at the '21, '24-time horizon, you'll find that the pace of Eurazeo rotation was 5 points above market and even 7 points focusing on the balance sheet portfolio only. As you know, the balance sheet, I'll come back to that, has already returned 14% of its NAV. Another positive catalyst, and we think this is a very important catalyst for future performance and the growth of our asset management activity is our proven ability to complete successful exits across the biotech, venture and growth franchises. After 3 landmark deals in 2024 Onfido, Lumapps and Amolyt asset, we've completed 2 important exits in Q3 2025 in excellent conditions.

In growth, Cognigy, a German AI-based customer management provider was sold to NiCE, an Israeli American listed company for nearly EUR 1 billion, representing a 2.1% cash-on-cash return in a year our EGF IV fund. This is a remarkable outcome, which brings EGF IV, which has only completed its first closing already at 25% of DPI and 1.15x TVPI or MOIC. That's quite exceptional in the industry where DPI tends to be low. In biotech, our Kurma team sold ImCheck to IPSEN for up to EUR 1 billion if certain milestones are met. The transaction should generate between 3 and 7x cash-on-cash returns and created substantial value for our BioFund vintages, which bodes well for the future fundraising. Let me highlight that we now added the performance of the biotech funds in -- together with the performance of the rest of the fund. Pro forma this transaction, the DPI of Kurma BioFund III now stands at 75%.

Let's focus more specifically on our balance sheet rotation. As you know, this is an essential part of our strategy to build an asset-light business model and execute on our promise to return more capital to our shareholders. With CPK and UPD, which closed in October, our balance sheet has realized EUR 1.1 billion of disposals year-to-date or 14% of last year's net portfolio value, already ahead of the total for the full year 2024 and as I said before, much above market pace of rotation. Since the beginning of 2024, we have sold around EUR 2.2 billion of balance sheet assets, i.e., since the beginning of the plan. This is around 27% of the net portfolio value at the end of 2023. We sold these assets at an average premium of 8% on our latest mark and a gross cash-on-cash multiple of 2.1x. Several processes are ongoing and should lead to transactions announced and realized through the end of the year. As you can see, all the exits we've announced and completed in 2025, including the most recent transactions, they are on the green in the bar charts, demonstrate again our ability to sell assets at or above NAV.

Let me stress again that we believe this is the best proof point to assess the quality of our portfolio valuation approach and processes. Let me stress also, and this is a very important thing for us, that portfolio valuations only make sense if they are associated with a proven capability to generate liquidity. When you compare Eurazeo, always keep in mind that our DPIs are higher than the average market. Operational metrics of the companies in which our balance sheet is invested through the funds continue to be healthy. The average growth of our buyout companies was plus 6% over 9 months, continuing the trend seen in H1 in spite of a still sluggish and volatile economic environment. In growth, activity remains solid across the portfolio with 15% top line growth on average. Doctolib, the largest investment in this strategy, continues to grow strongly and announced it has already reached profitability in Q3 2025. The most recent investment in Eurazeo Growth Fund IV recorded an average revenue growth of around 37% over the first 9 months of the year, confirming their strong momentum together with the DPI of 25% and value creation in the fund, this bodes well for future fundraising.

After years of strong growth, hospitality revenues logically have been stable in the first 9 months, while our infrastructure businesses continued to grow at a double-digit pace. Finally, before we open the floor to questions, a word on shareholder remuneration. This is a key commitment we've made to shareholders again in the plan '24-'27. By the end of 2025, we will have given back close to EUR 1 billion to our shareholders, approximately EUR 400 million in dividends and approximately EUR 600 million in share buyback, the equivalent of roughly 12% of Eurazeo share capital. As a remember, we had bought back EUR 200 million of shares in 2024 and doubled our program to EUR 400 million in 2025. With the acceleration of the program this summer, we have already bought back EUR 300 million, and we'll buy the remaining EUR 100 million before the end of the year.

Thank you very much for listening to this call. We can now open to Q&A questions.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Oliver Carruthers from Goldman Sachs.

I've got 3 questions. The first question on the realization rate. Just would you be able to help us just get a sense of what hurdles you have to clear to get to around that 20% realization rate this year? It seems from the press release, you're in late-stage negotiations for a number of assets. Is there any sense you could give on this would be great. Just really just trying to get a read on how sensitive this number could be to external factors, regulatory approval, financing, et cetera. So that's the first question. The second question, at the half year, you said neutral to slightly negative value creation for the full year with the first half obviously being slightly negative. I know there's no formal revaluation updates today, but can you give us a sense of how the balance sheet investment portfolio is tracking relative to expectations from the summer? And if you can, is it reasonable to assume 2H at this stage is tracking to be at least flat? That's the second question. And then the final question on fundraising. It looks like a good update today and noted the more than EUR 4 billion commentary for the full year. It looks like more and more of your fundraising is coming from non-European investors that stepped up quite a bit this year and even in 3Q. And any color that you can give on what's attracting non-European investors to the Eurazeo platform? Is it a broader theme of capital allocation to Europe? Or are there some other things at play would be very helpful.

Thank you very much, Oliver, for your questions. On realizations, we have several processes pertaining to different type of asset classes. So again, we are confident that we are able to trend towards our historical average. Now as you point out, there may be cases where there may be some delays between signing and realization. So, it's too early for me to tell you, given the fact that sometimes it requires some regulatory processes like CPK, we have to, of course, look through the hurdles of antitrust that was logical. And then we concluded in October. But expect that we will at least announce further deals through the end of the year and some of them will lead to realization soon after signing. Some of them may be realized slightly later.

The portfolio, no, we don't reevaluate the portfolio every quarter, yet we do valuations of our funds on a quarterly basis for our clients. And we also have operational metrics, and we look at multiples and as they evolve. So, we have a sense of where it goes based on what we know, of course, we're missing -- we missed the last quarter of data points, but we already have a sense. So, we can confirm very firmly the guidance that we will be between 0 and slightly negative for the value of the on-balance sheet portfolio at the end of the year and which may lead to a neutral to slightly positive on the share count on the share basis given the share buyback. Fundraising, as you have seen, we reiterate the more than EUR 4 billion. We have good momentum across different asset classes. Your question pertains to our ability to grow internationally. Yes, there is a case that there is more LPs across the globe, not only in Asia, but in Asia, particularly in countries such as South Korea, Japan, Singapore, also China to Europe. This is also the case -- this is why I said it's not only Asia, in Canada, for example. But we, as you know, also have potential to expand in areas where we are already present, but not -- but have a potential to do more like in Middle East and in certain countries in Europe outside of our core home markets, if I may say so. We have France and generally Benelux, particularly Belgium and Luxembourg.

So, there is a trend towards allocating more towards Europe. But I wouldn't say that Europe is just -- that Eurazeo is just suffering on the trend I think the main topic is that we have been able to position the company with a very differentiated value proposition. If you think about it, and you know very well the market of listed and non-listed companies, there is scarcity of platforms focused on mid-markets. And there is uniqueness in being a platform focused on European mid-market. At a time when the market is more and more polarized in the mindset of LPs, with LPs preferring to deal either with platform or some extremely differentiated monoliners with the rest of the industry being a bit more -- less attractive to LPs. We benefit from this. We benefit from being a platform with a unique positioning as a European mid-market/growth and impact-focused approach. And that's really what helps us in the marketing. People are confident with the stability and sustainability of the platform and what it can bring. And they understand very well that you can generate alpha and sometimes better alpha than in other regions in the world in European mid-market.

The next question comes from Alexander Gerard from CIC Market Solutions.

I have 2. My first question is related to the private debt fundraising year-to-date, which is down. How do you see the future regarding that asset class? And do you think that what happened in the U.S. with first brand and colors could more generally speaking, slow down the rate of fundraising in that asset class. So that's my first question. And the second question is regarding the gearing of the group. At the end of 2023, the gearing stood at 9%, which corresponded to EUR 0.8 billion in terms of net financial debt. And now the gearing has increased to 23% at EUR 1.6 billion. So how do you -- where do you see your gearing in 2027? And I mean, we have the feeling that you are returning cash to shareholders at a good rate, but maybe through a higher leverage. So where do you see your financial position going forward?

Thank you very much, Alex, for your 3 questions. Let's start with private debt. We have a very, very good momentum in private debt. And when I say we have already reached the EUR 3 billion, it means that we are above where we're going to fundraise on EPD VII above target. That would make of Eurazeo the largest asset manager focusing on lower mid-market direct lending, which is an attractive category given the yields and the margins that we can generate in the industry. We also have a good momentum in the fundraising of our asset-based focused franchise. So, if you look at this franchise, just have in mind we continue to have a good momentum, and we think we are gaining share both in deployment and as well as fundraising in countries in terms of deployment where we were less present historically like the Nordics and the DACH region or Italy. And as a primary brand franchise, we, as a result, gained share with key large LPs, consultants distributing us across the group. So that music continues to go very well.

Now to your point on the U.S., what's happening in the U.S. and the risk for the industry and for the franchise. Let me say, first of all, that we don't see any sign of weaknesses in our portfolio to date, i.e., the default rates continue to be very, very low. The default rates historically, and this continues to be the case, is about 20 basis points. It has increased a little marginally, but it is very low. And if you factor in that the recovery rate is 50%, then you have a de facto loss rate, which is very, very low. So that's a very important point because what you have seen in some cases in the U.S. is actual defaults. We haven't seen that in our portfolio for different reasons we can talk about. I would be cautious on extrapolating what's happening in the U.S. In a sense, it reminds me as an ex-banker, what happened in the securitization market, which exploded in the U.S. as a prime. In fact, the securitization market was very safe in Europe, and there's been some confusion here. So we are -- what we're seeing in the U.S. pertains to me more to a more relaxed, a loser regulation in terms of banking and insurance being able to buy CLOs and some direct lending assets which may be lack of proper framework and ending with some losses on their balance sheet, which is -- which raises the question in some minds as to the potential systemic risk.

We are very, very far away from that in Europe. The restriction that is put on banks and interest to invest in these asset categories continues to be strictly supervised. And that's probably not a bad thing. So, I think we're talking about 2 different dynamics. The gearing. The gearing has increased but continues to be compatible with a quasi-investment grade or investment-grade category when we do our own sort of shadow rating, talking to banks and relevant bodies. Let me stress that 17% gearing. I'm talking about pro forma, the sales and exits announced in Q3 with CPP and UPD, it's a gearing that is very reasonable. And as you know, it does include close to EUR 200 million of debt at IMGP, which is totally nonrecourse. So, from a creditworthiness standpoint, the group remains very safe. That was not your question. The question is more going forward, what do we see towards 2027. And there you know the answer. The answer is that we see that gradually that gearing will reduce. And at some point, we will end up with excess cash on the balance sheet.

Now excess cash before we distribute back money to our shareholders, which is what we've done. If you adjust the gearing to the EUR 1 billion, I mentioned before, you'll see that the company has virtually no gearing pertaining to its own operations. So that is something we monitor that idea that, number 1, gearing should always be well contained. In and of itself, I think some gearing is a good thing in reality. Fundamentally, the gearing will continue to go down through 2027. And 3, even with that approach, we should be able to continue to serve our shareholders through the share buybacks.

[Operator Instructions]

There is no other question on the line, I'm going to ask the questions that are the text that we've received. So, we already answered some of them. I will say David Cerdan from Kepler asks, how do you see 2026 for fundraising given the changes within the industry? And what are the initiatives on this for Eurazeo?

Well, thank you, David. I don't know if you're on the line but at least thank you for your question. A bit too early to communicate to the market on 2026 fundraising. But as you may imagine we have a quite good view as to what would be on the road and what we can achieve in 2026. So, I'd say it's more to say. We consider that given the diverse product offering that we have linked to that good performance, in particular, in terms of distribution to clients, given what we said on the back of the question of Oliver regarding the appetite for European mid-market, we should continue to gain market share and pursue the place of having good fundraising and better fundraising than the rest of the market. Of course, it's absent a major crisis. It is assuming still sluggish and somewhat polarized market environment that we referred to. So that's all that I can say at this stage.

Now we will come back to you with the pipeline, but we had already mentioned some of it. We will be full steam fundraising case in point for low or mid-market buyouts. That's a hot market. The previous vintage is running at more than 30% IRR, very good quartiles across all metrics. So that should be a success that goes into 2026. We will have the beginning of the full steam fundraising of our second vintage of infrastructure fund. As you know, the first infrastructure fund had fundraised much above its initial targets. The performance of the fund is very good. Hence, what I mentioned about the metrics that should be successful fundraising. And as a case in point, we will continue to fundraise on Growth Fund IV, which has done its first closing this year. Given the performance of the fund already and in spite of the fact that growth and venture more generally continues to be asset classes for which LP appetite is a bit more nuanced we should have momentum because that's quite a differentiated performance. And so forth, we'll have asset back on the road. Wealth, we should have the benefit of the new Evergreen funds launch. So, without going into what we're going to articulate when we publish our full year results with a detailed product offering that will be on the road, you can see that we feel confident we have enough to offer to the market and so more of the same.

Maybe we'll stay on the fundraising. A question from Isobel Hettrick from Bernstein Autonomous. She has a question on the buyout space, given the multiples that you have currently on Eurazeo Capital on IRR, MOIC and DPI and considering that it is now 4 years old, how are you thinking about fundraising for EC VI and the ability to attract third-party investors on this future funds?

We think investors will look at EC IV, which is more mature funds. And then we look at EC V when EC V has enough maturity because beyond the vintage, you should look also at the pace of deployment. EC V is deployed roughly 50%. So, it doesn't have as of yet, the granularity and that would lead to a full meaningfulness of the metrics. So, if you look at EC V, we are in the good metrics, particularly on DPI and very decent in IRR and cash on cash. And we have good assets in EC V, but it's a bit too early to call given that some of them have been invested recently like Mapal, but also ERS and BMS have been invested fairly recently. So, they are good assets with strong operational metrics, but we have been quite prudent in remarking these assets over time. So, all that in a nutshell, will lead you rather towards 2027, maybe end of '26, but certainly more '27 for a full steam fundraising EC VI. So, we'll see how we perform at this time. But right now, we are very confident given the quality of EC IV and given the early metrics that we see within the portfolio of EC V.

So, we have one question from an investor that we will answer directly because it's pretty specific. And for the moment, I don't have any other question on the text line. If anybody has an overall question to ask, you can still raise your hand.

The next question comes from Alexander Gerard from CIC Market Solutions.

2 follow-up questions on my side, please. The first one regarding the -- your corporate development opportunities. Can you maybe update us on that front? For example, you have a look at committed Advisors that has just been acquired by Wendel. Is secondary segment that is attractive to you? And going forward, where are your priorities if you were to strengthen your expertise through M&A? And secondly, at the time of the CMD, you had set also a goal in terms of improving your operating efficiency. Can we have an update on that? Can we have examples of what you did since November 2023 to make your -- improve your operating efficiency?

Thank you. Well, it is true that for -- on the quarter, we don't update on IRAs and margin, but always good to remind us that we are committed to improve operating efficiency on the asset management. Regarding corporate development, I mean, we are at a stage where the industry is clearly being divided into large platforms with our own identified market. Again, Eurazeo as a platform, has a right to win as a leader in European mid-market, as we said. And monoliners,ome of them will continue to be very successful and some of them, quite a few of them may find difficult to continue the journey. And hence, there is a tendency to -- for people to try to find a home within the platform. So yes, we are having a number of discussions very often generated by people themselves who want to meet with us that we didn't have in the past. Does it mean that we want to do deals? Not necessarily. We consider that we have a strong strategic rationale in pursuing our organic growth. But as we said many times, there may be cases that may justify looking at M&A if that would help us speeding up the scaling of some of our strategies and acquiring new franchises, client franchises that we don't have.

So of course, I will not comment more. I will not comment as to whether we've looked at committed advisers. But I will just remind you of the fact that our secondary franchise is bigger than the one that just acquired. And it's very successful as a franchise, both with LPs and with wealth, close to 50% of the fundraising of that secondary franchise is nurtured by our wealth channels. Secondary together with debt a category that you absolutely need to have if you want to develop successfully into the wealth market. And we also have a strong mandate franchise and fund franchise. So, it's more an organic journey, an expansion of the international footprint of that franchise that we're looking for. Operational metrics. So, this is not a topic for the 9 months. But as you know, we have already increased quite materially the operating leverage of the company. We added close to 500 basis points of margin between 2022 and 2024. What we said -- so we will continue -- so we already reached the bottom end of our mid-term target. You referred to the CMD. At the time, we had said between 35% and 40% FRE margin. So, we already crossed the bar of 35%. So, I'd say, as you can see, we are very focused on that.

We continue to be focused on that, being mindful though that we are also a company that has significant growth opportunities. So, we've invested in strengthening our sales force. We have invested in some reinforcing of our investment strategies. So, you have to be also managing that growth opportunities because a lot of will come -- of the operational efficiency will be associated to our capacity to increase our revenues.

Maybe we have 5 more minutes. I will take the 2 questions that I have online. First, a question on AI, much on the topic. Do you perceive AI as an important game changer for your participations with middle- to long-term horizon? Can you comment on your strategy concerning the evolution linked to AI? And maybe just the other one, could we expect some IPOs in 2026 for some of the assets that are exposed to the balance sheet?

AI is a very important topic for us. And it will require certainly more time than this call. So, I'll try to really summarize it. AI for us pertains to 3 things. Number one, are we as a company using what AI can offer. I'm talking about as an asset manager. The answer is we're going full speed in using AI in our middle back office conversal operations. We consider that everything we can automate. But beyond automate, we also use some -- we have some test using agentic AI. We also have training for the people in the firm, including CEOs as to how to prompt. So that's clearly a focus, and this is linked to the question of Alexander regarding operational efficiency.

We also use it. We have quite a few experiences now that we've made to test the quality of it and the outcome for our investment processes. AI can be very forceful if you use it right, to generate analysis of deal flows as well as to process some basic analysis on numbers, projections, market data that's obviously quite efficient. And we always have a limit. The limit being that AI can't do something which we expect our good investors to do, which is to assess quality of management. And then there is the core of what we look at when we think about AI, which is how much opportunity to grow the companies we invest into AI can give or on the contrary, how much of disruption can AI cause in the companies we invest to, the companies we have invested into. It's very important to have in each of the franchises that we operate in investments, people focusing on that. So, we have operational partners very focused on that topic of assessing the opportunities and risk linked to AI.

It is also very beneficial to be a company that is able to have investors in venture, in growth equities through buyouts and more mature company -- these people have a constant dialogue because when you are a buyout investor, talking to your colleagues in venture to see a few innovations that may lead to impacting the portfolio companies you're looking at is obviously extremely important. The same applies, by the way, to health care. The fact that we have in the same house people who do seed biotech or med-tech companies at the same time that we have buyout investors that invest in more mature health care company. If you manage to get the dialogue and we manage to have this dialogue between the teams, that's very forceful. So, AI is something that, of course, will be front and center for all the companies we invest into. Nobody will be unaffected. And there may be a case that there is some eating in the investment speed in the infrastructure of AI, but there is absolutely no doubt that AI will be front and center going forward. So, the answer is yes. And the second question was --

IPOs in '26.

Don't expect IPOs in 2026 pertaining to our portfolios. Now what we observe is that the market of IPOs has improved in the U.S. There's been some improvement as well in Europe. And we have some companies, particularly in the growth portfolio that are getting more and more good cases for a potential IPO. But the timing of which, of course, we will not commit because we don't master the markets today. So '26 may be a bit too early.

As we have no further questions, I think it's time to end this call. The next step for us is on the 11th of March for our full year results. Thank you very much for attending this call, and have a nice day. Bye-bye.

Thank you very much. Bye-bye.