Transactions & Compagnie

What Transactions & Compagnie does

Transactions & Compagnie is a Paris-headquartered boutique investment bank founded in late 2016 by François Paillier, a 25-year veteran of Paribas, JP Morgan, and Edmond de Rothschild. The firm provides independent M&A advisory, corporate finance, debt advisory, and wealth/patrimonial advisory to French and French-adjacent family-owned businesses, entrepreneurs, and management teams. Its stated value proposition is to reconcile the strategic challenges of owner-led companies with the personal wealth considerations of their shareholders, and to do so over long time horizons rather than on a transaction-volume basis. The firm explicitly markets itself as conflict-free, without lending or in-house principal conflicts outside the dedicated Retriever fund.

The firm operates with approximately 30–40 professionals organized as a partnership with multiple Managing Partners covering general M&A, real estate (Bertrand Sasson), wine (Olivier Vizerie / Millésime Transaction), and US operations (Cédric Meeschaert from April 2024). Beyond pure advisory, the group operates Retriever Invest I, an FPCI-registered private equity fund launched in 2023 that targets €40–50M of capital for 5–8 LMBO majority investments in French SMEs, administered by Equitis Gestion. A second adjacent entity, FOBS, provides family office services, extending the platform into ongoing wealth management. Subsidiary T&C Partners operates as a related M&A brand under the group.

Distribution is relationship-driven: deal flow is generated primarily through referrals from legal, accounting, and PE-fund partners in the French business ecosystem, supplemented by industry events and a publications/newsletter presence on the company website. The client base spans mid-market to enterprise companies in sectors including professional training (M2i sold to Skolae, Cegos acquisition of Next Group), aerospace/chemistry (Socomore shareholder reorganization with Three Hills and Bpifrance), food service (La Famille / Indigo Capital BIMBO), wine and timber (Charlois / OAK Nation acquisition of Graf Brothers), packaging (Wellpack / UI Investissement), and test/measurement (MS Noise-Ionbench / EMZ Partners). The firm has completed over 40 transactions, with the founder personally involved in 80+. The firm maintains offices in Paris (HQ), New York, Miami, Lyon, Nantes, and Bordeaux.

Name

Transactions & Compagnie

Legal name

Transactions & Compagnie

Website

https://transactionsetcie.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Paris-based boutique M&A advisory firm founded in 2016, providing independent corporate finance, wealth planning, and debt advisory to French family-owned businesses, entrepreneurs, and management teams, with a US presence in New York and Miami.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

M&A Advisory and Corporate Finance Services

NAICS

Miscellaneous Intermediation (523910)

SIC

Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211)

akta.pro primary industry

Transaction Services (Financial, Tax & Commercial Due Diligence) (BPAHAOAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Valuation & Purchase Price Allocation (Deal Valuation) (BPAHAOAK), Business Transfer Intermediation (Introducers/Deal Sourcing Networks) (FSAEAIAL)

Keywords

• Mergers acquisitions advisory
• Corporate finance advisory
• Debt advisory services
• Family business advisory
• Private equity fund management

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. M&A Advisory Fees: Revenue generated from advising on mergers and acquisitions, capital transactions, LBO operations, and strategic advisory mandates for family businesses, entrepreneurs, and management teams.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Transactions & Compagnie is a boutique investment bank providing M&A advisory, corporate finance advisory, wealth/patrimonial operations, and debt advisory services to family-owned businesses, entrepreneurs, and management teams. The firm also operates Retriever Invest, a private equity fund (FPCI) focused on LMBO operations in French SMEs. Core engagements include sell-side and buy-side M&A, LBO operations, capital restructuring, and succession planning.

Product overview

Transactions & Compagnie is a boutique investment bank and M&A advisory firm serving family-owned businesses, entrepreneurs, and management teams. The firm offers a unified advisory platform comprising corporate finance advisory, wealth/patrimonial operations, strategic operations, and debt advisory services. The core offering is M&A advisory for independent companies, supplemented by the Retriever Invest 1 small-cap private equity fund as a distinct investment vehicle for LMBO transactions. The firm operates primarily from Paris with additional offices in New York and Lyon.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• M&A Advisory Services
• Corporate Finance Advisory
• Wealth/Patrimonial Operations
• Debt Advisory
• Retriever Invest 1

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 40 successful transactions completed
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Lazard: Global financial advisory firm with significant French mid-market practice. Competes on larger mandates within the same independent/family-business client pool.
• Rothschild & Co: Global advisory house with deep mid-market coverage in France through Rothschild Martin Maurel. Competes for the larger end of Transactions & Compagnie's mandate range as a much larger incumbent.

Direct peers

• Lincoln International: Global mid-market M&A advisor with strong European mid-cap franchise. Competes directly on cross-border mid-market deals in the same enterprise-value band.
• Advent Corporate Finance (ACG): French mid-market M&A boutique advising SMEs and family-owned businesses on sell-side and capital-reorganization mandates. Highly comparable in size, segment and positioning.
• Cambon Partners: Paris-based independent M&A advisory boutique serving French mid-market and family-owned companies. Closest direct competitor in size, positioning, and target client segment.
• Oaklins: Global M&A advisory network with deep mid-market and family-business coverage in France. Competes for similar SME sell-side mandates across multiple sectors.
• Clipperton: Paris-based independent M&A boutique focused on Tech and Digital sectors. Comparable boutique positioning; partial overlap on tech-enabled family-business transactions.
• Natixis Partners: French mid-market M&A advisory firm with extensive family-business and SME coverage. Direct competitor on sell-side and capital-reorganization mandates across France.
• IMAP: International M&A advisory partnership with French member firms, focused on mid-market cross-border deals. Competes for similar SME sell-side mandates.
• DC Advisory: Global cross-border mid-market M&A advisor with strong Paris presence. Competes with Transactions & Compagnie on cross-border mid-cap deals and family-business mandates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Transactions & Compagnie