Interview of CFNEWS with Thibaut Robet and Maxime Bertin
Interview transcript
Aurore: Hello Maxime Bertin, hello Thibaut Robet!
Maxime Bertin: Hello Aurore.
Thibaut Robet: Hello Aurore.
A.: I remind you that you are respectively Head of Factoring and Managing Director at Fibus. Fibus is mainly known for its expertise in factoring advisory. Could you remind us what it is used for, for portfolio companies and for funds?
T.R.: Factoring is the cheapest way we have to finance the growth of a portfolio company – whether organic growth or external growth. It is the most significant short-term financing available for a B2B company.
M.B.: And concretely, it allows a company to unlock financing equivalent to two months of revenue. So if you take a company with €30 million in turnover, it can expect around €5 million in financing. Likewise, a company with €3 billion in turnover can rely on around €500 million in financing.
A.: So the financing is quite substantial in the end.
M.B.: Very substantial.
A.: And we see you at IPEM for the first time. What brings you here?
M.B.: We’ve been working with investment funds for about fifteen years, and they often invited us to attend, saying it was a place where we needed to be to better present our services. We decided to come this year and hope to meet as many funds as possible to explain the benefits of factoring for them and their portfolio companies.
A.: 2023 was a somewhat difficult year for private equity. What has changed in factoring?
T.R.: It is the need for risk-sharing among banks. Whereas we previously could secure a factoring line with a single factor, today it must be syndicated, which adds complexity. Our role is precisely to manage this complexity and keep these projects simple.
M.B.: What hasn’t changed is appetite – this remains a highly attractive form of financing, with margins between 1.5% and 2% above the benchmark rate. It is therefore much more competitive than equity or other forms of debt.
A.: So it is a kind of paradigm shift that has highlighted Fibus’ added value?
M.B.: Yes. We were heavily approached last year by investors. The difference compared to previous years is that we used to intervene mainly in acquisition contexts. Last year, we also worked a lot with already-financed companies to help them optimize and renegotiate their programs.
A.: What recommendations would you give to investors in 2024, looking ahead?
M.B.: The main recommendation is to anticipate factoring very early in acquisition processes and involve us early so we can quickly assess what resources the company can rely on through factoring.
T.R.: Because planning factoring early – before acquisition – is extremely important. It can be frustrating to realize, once you want to implement it, that the debt documentation for example does not allow factoring. So it must be considered very early; that is our key recommendation: anticipate.
A.: So anticipation is the key word for factoring in 2024. Thank you Maxime, thank you Thibaut!
M.B.: Thank you very much!
T.R.: Thank you Aurore!