- Argos member since 1991
- Speaks French, English and a little Italian and German
- MSc Engineering Ecole Centrale de Paris
- Argos member since 1991
- Speaks French, English and a little Italian and German
- MSc Engineering Ecole Centrale de Paris
How would you describe what you do?
Louis
The companies we back often resemble exceptionally talented children: they have enormous potential that is not always visible at first. Our job is to help bring it out.
We provide capital, of course, but that is not the difficult part. The real work is to understand a business, identify the few transformations that genuinely matter, and give its teams the means to deliver them.
Climate Action fits very naturally into that approach. Deeply decarbonising a company is a comprehensive and highly engaging transformation project, one that involves the entire organisation.
What have you learned about transforming companies?
Louis
First, that maximising the short term can choke off the future. You need to preserve agility, room for manoeuvre and initiative, even when Excel suggests otherwise.
Above all, success depends on human dynamics. Plans matter, but people matter more. A company cannot succeed if its teams do not want it to succeed. Our job is to work with management teams to build plans that remain motivating over time, guided by a realistic ambition.
Our role is to set a clear direction, create the conditions for success, support the business at close quarters, and be there when reality refuses to follow the plan – which happens with some regularity.
In short, if you want to keep your shareholder at arm’s length, don’t call Argos. If you want a shareholder that knows how to double or triple the size of a business, will share what 35 years of successful investing have taught us, and will still be there when things get difficult, come and talk to us.
How would you describe Argos?
Louis
I joined Argos in 1991, in the first months of its existence. We have since become a European investment platform, but we have been careful to preserve what defined our entrepreneurial beginnings: the trust between us, and a preference for real business transformation over financial engineering.
Today, Argos Mid-Market and Argos Climate Action are two expressions of the same culture: choosing companies where we believe we can make a difference and then committing ourselves to making that difference. That culture has been shaped through more than 35 years of investing across Europe’s leading economies, alongside hundreds of entrepreneurs and management teams.
I am particularly proud of our values; proud that, year after year, Argos shows that you can succeed sustainably while remaining true to one’s convictions… without ever becoming cynical.
“Above all, success depends on human dynamics. Plans matter, but people matter more. A company cannot succeed if its teams do not want it to succeed. Our job is to work with management teams to build plans that remain motivating over time, guided by a realistic ambition.”
Tell us about your responsibilities.
Louis
We are temporarily entrusted with three things: capital, influence over companies, and the trust of those who place both in our hands. We have to put them to useful purpose.
For our investors, that means returns first and foremost. For the companies, it means they should be stronger when we leave than when we arrived. And as majority shareholders, we must also take responsibility for the consequences of our decisions for employees, customers, suppliers and the environment.
The Climate fund is the most ambitious expression of this transformation mindset: decarbonising companies quickly and deeply in sectors where customers increasingly demand it can help them gain market share – and enhance the value of our investments at the same time.
What motivates you today?
Louis
Very simply: using what we have learned over more than 35 years to build companies that are stronger, more competitive, genuinely responsible, and better adapted to the world ahead.
A few words about you?
Louis
I persist with endurance running, with performance increasingly and firmly anchored in the bottom quartile.
I have also embarked on some improbable efforts in classical singing, with scant regard for my own self-esteem. I can assure you that humility comes quickly when you have to step on stage and sing a solo aria in front of a hundred very good singers.
And fortunately – and above all – my family remains a constant and inexhaustible source of happiness in my life.
If you would like to have a direct discussion with me, feel free to
Companies I Support
€36 M
Musical instruments
FRANCE
€582 M
Civil explosives
FRANCE
€59 M
Software provider
FRANCE
