Cerea Partners has entered into exclusive negotiations with a view to acquire a majority stake of Polaris alongside the company’s management and current shareholders who are reinvesting significantly in the transaction (Seventure Partners, with its Health for Life Capital II fund, and Picama) as well as French regional investors.
Since its inception in 1994, Polaris has become a major and recognised player in the field of the purification and concentration of oils based on microalgae and fish, making it possible to obtain products with a high concentration of Omega 3. The French company has a turnover of €30 million and serves the food supplements, nutraceutical and infant nutrition markets, mainly abroad.
Polaris has created a solid reputation thanks to the development of its patented processes aimed at stabilising and deodorising the oils, thus improving their longevity, nutritional quality and organoleptic profile.
Development of a sustainable Omega 3 offer from microalgae is part of new consumption habits and is at the heart of the Cerea Capital III fund’s investment strategy
Seventure Partners invested in 2009 in Polaris through its FCPI Retails funds, then as a majority investor with its Health for Life Capital II fund in 2021. This has enabled Polaris to move from a distributor to a manufacturer model, and to start industrial production in 2013. In 2018, the company’s leadership transition was completed with the recruitment of Dominique Taret, as CEO, and Louis Marie Martin, as COO, accelerating organic growth and the development of microbiome-modulating products.
With the support of Cerea Partners as the new majority shareholder, Polaris is entering a new phase of its development, which revolves around three main areas:
- The strengthening of its know-how in microalgae oils;
- The pursuit of international development, particularly in North America and Asia;
- The development of new applications (particularly in infant nutrition and food) which could be accompanied by targeted external growth.
Dominique Taret, CEO of Polaris, said: “Cerea and Seventure share the same vision and strategy for Polaris. This unity of investors’ thinking for Polaris is extremely important for the company’s ambition to consolidate its leadership in the Omega 3 microalgae bases processes market.”
Isabelle de Crémoux, CEO and managing partner of Seventure Partners, said: “Polaris has all the ingredients for success: premium products recognised by hundreds of customers which allow us to preserve health capital and take advantage of a wide range of applications of the microbiota while having a positive environmental impact, as well as a new management team that has demonstrated it can deliver its vision. As a player committed to the planet and health, this investment was obvious for us and our HEALTH FOR LIFE CAPITAL II fund. That’s also why we will be reinvesting significantly in this primary LBO. We are delighted to combine impact and high financial performance.”
Antoine Peyronnet, Managing Partner at Cerea Partners, said: “We were impressed by the incredibly high quality of the Polaris management team. The company has developed a distinctive know-how, recognised in its market, while maintaining a sustainable development model throughout its value chain. Omega 3 has become an essential element for our health. The development of a sustainable Omega 3 offer from microalgae is part of new consumption habits and is at the heart of the Cerea Capital III fund’s investment strategy as well as the firm’s social corporate responsibility approach.”
