The art of foresight
and of enterprise.
Arcadia Partners advises the leaders of SMEs and mid-market companies through the defining moments of their corporate journey. Sale, external growth, fundraising, restructuring, succession. Before. During. After.
Six disciplines, one conviction. Anticipate as much as execute.
Arcadia is not only an M&A boutique. It is also an advisory firm. Depending on the situation, we act as architect before the deal, conductor during it, or mediator among stakeholders.
Sell-side advisory
Standard sale mandates or structured transactions. Foresight 12 to 36 months before the process.
Buy-side advisory
Buy-side mandates. Target identification, confidential approach, negotiation, structuring.
Capital raising
Equity, quasi-equity, senior debt and mezzanine. Preparation, partner selection, negotiation.
Restructuring
Exit the crisis without destroying the company. Refinancing, renegotiation, shareholder restructuring.
Family succession
Generational arbitrages, governance, tax structuring, preparing the heirs.
Mediation
Resolving the intergenerational conflicts that block the technical approach. Our distinctive signature.
Arcadia works across all sectors. With a particular affinity for those where value is singular.
Family mediation, where technique alone no longer suffices.
One in three family business transmissions fails or is degraded by intergenerational conflicts that no tax scheme can resolve.
Arcadia Partners steps in upstream to restore a workable conversation, formalise everyone’s personal stakes, and craft a solution that every generation can support.
Discover our methodListen before structuring
Identify the unspoken, old wounds, perceived imbalances among heirs. The scheme comes later.
Formalise what each person carries
Map of personal stakes, life project, financial expectations, desired role in future governance.
Build a solution carried by all
Governance, shareholders’ agreement, monitoring tools. Each stakeholder signs because they have their place.
Three transactions anonymised, illustrating Arcadia’s versatility.
For confidentiality reasons, we deliberately keep our communication limited. These cases offer a fair picture of our approach, in real situations.
Family succession and external growth
Context
- Industrial services for the pharmaceutical industry
- Acquisition offer received, payment staggered over 3 years
- Desire to keep a family member as CEO
Our intervention
- Refusal of the offer deemed unsatisfactory
- Priority on family succession
- Diversification strategy through external growth
- Support on valuation, structuring, due diligence
Shareholder restructuring and development
Context
- Margin analysis and ERP redesign
- Family shareholder restructuring underway
- Exit of a partner
Our intervention
- Margin audit and ERP recommendations
- Family mediation and preparation of negotiations
- New dairy facility project to broaden the range
- Search for bank financing, equity, quasi-equity
Wealth transmission and governance
Context
- Upcoming retirement of the founder
- Succession to heirs to prepare
- Family-owned EURL structure
Our intervention
- Two-stage transaction split
- Partner selection, organisation of pitches
- Analysis of tax and legal solutions
- Preparing the handover
Anticipate. Bespoke.
Never execute without first understanding.
Arcadia does not offer a standardised process. Each transaction is a unique matter, led by a unique leader, in a unique sector and family context. Our method rejects the off-the-shelf approach of classic M&A.
We often step in well before the deal, sometimes when no transaction is ever planned. Our value is measured as much by deals signed as by lucid decisions taken before.
Foresight
Value is built 12 to 36 months before the transaction. What is negotiated during the deal depends on what was prepared upstream.
Bespoke
No file is standardised. Neither the diagnosis, the strategy, nor the deliverables. Each mandate is tailored for one leader.
Absolute confidentiality
Arcadia operates in environments where discretion is a prerequisite. We only communicate on what our clients authorise us to disclose.
Dual finance and law expertise
Training in M&A, corporate tax and philosophy of law. Trade-offs go beyond financial mechanics.
Advice is first and foremost a team and a track record.
Marc Aubert
ESSEC Business School · Master II Corporate Tax (Panthéon-Assas) · Diploma from the Collège de Droit, philosophy of law.
15 years of mid-market M&A experience: Rothschild & Co, Kepler Corporate Finance, Lincoln International, DC Advisory.
Personal track record · major transactions led
Before founding Arcadia Partners, Marc Aubert led or co-led more than fifteen transactions at Lincoln International and DC Advisory. Below are the most representative, with the associated enterprise value.
- 2024Sell-side mandate for Peters Surgical, manufacturer of single-use surgical equipment€100-150m
- 2023Sell-side mandate for Fiabila, nail polish manufacturer€250-300m
- 2023Adviser to Montefiore on the acquisition of oXya€150-200m
- 2021Refinancing of Valeur & Capital, student housing operatorn.d.
- 2020Sell-side mandate for PatrimOne, UHNWI insurance broker€15-20m
- 2019Sell-side mandate for Star Service, last-mile delivery€100-150m
- 2019Sell-side mandates for Marketshot, Indraero Siren, Ekstend€15-30m
Analyses, guides, lessons learned. Because foresight begins with understanding.
Published every two weeks by Marc Aubert and the Arcadia team. Technical and methodological insights, anonymised case studies.
The art of foresight and of enterprise. Why a company’s value is decided long before the mandate.
From governance to accounts, from tax to management: what is prepared 24 months ahead matters more than what is negotiated during the deal.
Valuing an SME in 2026. Why EBITDA is no longer enough to describe a company.
Pacte Dutreil, contribution-sale, 150-0 B ter. The tax trio to arbitrate 24 months ahead.
Family mediation. When the price is decided in the conversation no one had.
20th-century art gallery: handing over an art house without selling it.
A sale, succession or fundraising project. Or a topic you have not yet decided.
Let’s discuss your project.
Request a meeting
+33 (0)6 07 11 42 54
First meeting, confidential and without commitment.
M&A boutique and premium advisory
Paris · since 2024
120 rue du Château
75014 Paris · France
Contact
- Marc Aubert
- +33 (0)6 07 11 42 54