Sagard NewGen acquires FuturMaster, a leading provider of SaaS solutions for Supply Chain Planning and Revenue Growth Management, alongside its management team

October 29, 2024
Europe

Paris, October 29, 2024 – Sagard NewGen announces the acquisition of FuturMaster, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider of Supply Chain Planning and Revenue Growth Management solutions, from its founder and Cathay Capital. Sagard NewGen becomes the Group’s majority shareholder alongside the management team and Cathay Capital, who reinvest in the new transaction.

FuturMaster, with its Bloom platform, offers a comprehensive suite of SaaS-based solutions for the end-to-end supply chain planning and revenue optimisation of large enterprises and mid-sized companies worldwide. FuturMaster solutions transform the complexity of business operations into levers of performance and resilience, offering competitive advantage in a volatile and uncertain environment. Thanks to cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital twin modelling and operational research, FuturMaster enables its customers to better plan for demand, and adapt their operational response by optimising production, distribution and supply plans.

FuturMaster’s platform is used daily by many leading companies in all sectors, including Heineken, L’Oréal, TotalEnergies and SNCF, in over 90 countries. The group is profitable, with growth of c.30% per year, and generates over €30 million in revenue, over a third of which is generated outside France. It employs nearly 200 people in France, the UK, Singapore and China.

Sagard NewGen’s acquisition of FuturMaster marks a key milestone in its history. Its Chief Executive Officer, Yacine Zeroual, succeeds Bo Zhou, the Group’s founding Chairman and majority shareholder, who is stepping down as part of the deal.

Yacine Zeroual, CEO of FuturMaster, said: ‘We are delighted to begin this new chapter with Sagard NewGen, which shares our ambition to become a global leader in Supply Chain Planning and Revenue Growth Management solutions. With the support of Sagard NewGen and Cathay Capital, and backed by a talented and committed team, we will accelerate our international expansion while continuing to offer our customers innovative solutions to transform their complexity into sustainable competitive advantage in a constantly changing world.’

Bérangère Barbe and Guillaume Lefebvre, Partners at Sagard NewGen, added: ‘We are delighted to support Yacine and his team in the next stages of FuturMaster’s development in Europe and beyond. This project, alongside the management team, is based above all on the continuity of the company’s strategy of product innovation and internationalisation. This transaction, which opens up the capital more widely to the company’s management team, is perfectly in line with Sagard NewGen’s Growth Buyout strategy.’

Jérémie Falzone, Partner at Cathay Capital, stated: ‘Since acquiring a stake in FuturMaster in 2020, we have been proud to support the company, which has successfully developed innovative SaaS-based supply chain management solutions and expanded its business with major companies that are leaders in their sectors. We are delighted to continue our partnership with Sagard NewGen and the company’s management to accelerate FuturMaster’s international growth.’

About FuturMaster
FuturMaster, a pioneer in supply chain planning, is a SaaS software provider that, for over 30 years, has been helping companies optimize their operations, from end-to-end supply chain planning to revenue optimization. Innovation is at the core of its strategy, leveraging advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital twin modeling, and operational research. In 2024, FuturMaster introduced Forecast At Scale, a solution designed to enhance the accuracy of large-scale forecasting, and Network Insight Graph, an analysis tool that strengthens supply chain resilience and performance. Trusted by over 650 clients across 90 countries, FuturMaster empowers businesses to turn operational complexity into a competitive advantage in a volatile and uncertain world.
For more information: https://www.futurmaster.com/

About Sagard NewGen
Sagard NewGen supports the development of leaders in the Technology and Healthcare sectors. We finance expansion strategies of European, profitable companies with sales of up to €200m that share a DNA of innovation and sustainability, through majority or minority equity investments.
Sagard NewGen is part of Sagard’s international platform, which has assets under management of over $25bn across 6 strategies covering the full range of financing needs of growth companies. Leveraging flexible capital, an entrepreneurial culture and a global network, Sagard provides management teams with tailor-made support, a high value-added ecosystem and international reach, with 7 offices in Europe, North America and Abu Dhabi.
For more information: https://www.sagard.com/newgen/

About Cathay Capital
Cathay Capital is a private equity and venture capital firm that supports companies in Europe, North America, and Asia. Cathay Capital helps companies at all stages of development, from start-ups to mid-sized companies, to unlock growth opportunities, drive international expansion, and enable sustainable transformation. With its international reach and deep local expertise, its platform connects people – investors, entrepreneurs, management teams, and leading corporations – to share knowledge and resources, fostering the evolution and transformation of businesses. Founded in 2006 with a strong entrepreneurial heritage, Cathay Capital now manages more than 6 billion euros in assets and has completed more than 280 investments in sectors such as healthcare, technology, and consumer goods from its offices in Paris, New York, San Francisco, Munich, Berlin, Madrid, Shanghai, Beijing, and Singapore.
For more information, please visit www.cathaycapital.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter @CathayCapital

Press Contacts
FuturMaster: Nairi Kurdoghlian, [email protected], +33 7 61 61 97 43
Sagard NewGen: Aliénor Miens, [email protected], +33 6 64 32 81 75
Cathay Capital: Yoann Besse, [email protected], +33 6 63 03 84 91

Participants in the operation
FuturMaster: Bo Zhou, Yacine Zeroual
Sagard NewGen: Guillaume Lefebvre, Bérangère Barbe, Jan Kinsky, Louis Gosselin, Michel Bsarini
Cathay Capital: Jérémie Falzone, Maximillian Gairard, Marc Lin

FuturMaster advisors
M&A sell-side: Bryan Garnier (Thibaut De Smedt, Stanislas de Gmeline, Thomas Normand, Emile Neyret)
Lawyers: Hogan Lovells (Stéphane Huten, Florian Brechon)
Financial due diligence: Alvarez & Marsal (Samih Hajar)

Sagard NewGen advisors
M&A buy-side: Sycomore (Tristan Dupont)
Corporate lawyers: Paul Hastings (Olivier Deren, Vincent Nacinovic, Adèle Patinier)
Taw Lawyers: Paul Hastings (Charles Filleux-Pommerol, Laetitia Mingarelli)
Strategic due diligence: Software Club (Maxence Vanheuverswyn, Marin Butori, Ali Sghir)
Financial due diligence: Alvarez & Marsal (Benoît Bestion, Hugo Wandels)
Technologic due diligence: Akvize (Mickael Maindron, Adrien Della Gaspera, Romain Barbu)
legal, tax and employment due diligence: Paul Hastings, Alvarez & Marsal
Financing: Rothschild & Co (Grégory Fradelizi, Nicolas Levy, Marie-Hermine Gouiffes Natali)
Unitranche debt
Eurazeo (Olivier Sesboüé, Hugo Torresano)