Sofina: my exposure to AI
overview of 2024
Short description
With Sofina, we position ourselves alongside the wealthy and noble Boël family, who, through various companies, control 54.6% of Sofina. Under the leadership of CEO Harold Boël and with Nicolas Boël on the board of directors, they exert significant influence over the company’s strategy.
As an established holding company with over 120 years of history, Sofina takes a long-term perspective. They explicitly state that they operate with the next generations in mind.
Sofina employs three investment styles. The first is long-term minority stakes, where they primarily target investments in Europe ranging from €75 million to €200 million in companies with a total value between €250 million and €3 billion. These investments can be in both private and publicly listed companies, but the key requirement is that these businesses must have an anchor shareholder with a long-term horizon. This investment style accounts for 31% of their equity. Examples of companies in this category include team.blue, Drylock, Collibra, Cognita, and Mérieux NutriSciences.
Together with Growth investments, Sofina classifies these minority stakes as "Direct Investments." Sofina Growth represents approximately 23% of their equity. Within this category, Sofina seeks investments in rapidly growing companies and sectors, aiming for commitments between €20 million and €100 million per investment. Notable examples include Vinted, Mistral AI, Bytedance (TikTok), Too Good To Go, Typeform, and others.
Sofina Private Funds account for roughly 46% of Sofina’s equity. In this segment, Sofina relies on specialized teams with whom they have built strong relationships over the years. They were co-pioneers in investments in companies like YouTube and Facebook, collaborating with partners such as Sequoia, Lightspeed, Everstone, Founder Fund, and others. This branch primarily focuses on investments in America and Asia. Through these partners, they also have significant exposure to AI, including investments in OpenAI, xAI, Anthropic, and Databricks.
Why we selected Sofina
The success of the seasoned private equity players with whom Sofina collaborates is a key reason why investors choose Sofina. The network, carefully built over decades, clearly pays off.
Many of the Growth investments also originate from these connections. Additionally, Sofina has built an impressive track record in its minority stakes investments.
When we compare their track record to the MSCI World Index, we see that Sofina underperformed slightly over the past ten years: an annual growth rate of 9.9% compared to 10.3% (figures as of June 30). As you likely know by now, I believe the MSCI World Index is currently overvalued. Sofina, on the other hand, is available at an attractive discount.