We extended our relationship with Alvest’s highly regarded management team in July 2025, reinvesting through Fund VI alongside PAI Partners. We first invested in Alvest, the world’s leading manufacturer of airport ground support equipment, as a co-investor in 2018, and supported its expansion into new activities. These included launching maintenance and leasing offerings, as well as developing fixed and portable power sources to provide electricity and air conditioning to aircraft at the gate, removing the need to run their engines. This allows airlines and airports to reduce their carbon footprint. With air travel largely suspended during Covid, Alvest’s earnings fell. But with the support of its sponsors and lenders, the company continued to invest in its business plan and staged a powerful recovery, emerging from the pandemic with an increased market share.
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€500M+
in annual revenues
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3,800
employees
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x2
EBITDA doubled between 2018 and 2025
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11
factories worldwide
Strategic disposal funds growth program
To refocus Alvest on its core activities, in March 2023 we agreed the sale of its non-core Adhetec division, which produces adhesive film markings for aircraft. The disposal enabled Alvest to reduce debt and accelerate investment in the core business.
Airport capex accelerates after pandemic pause
With Alvest’s performance recovering strongly, its sponsors, in agreement with the management team, decided that it was a good moment to bring the company to market. Following a competitive process, a consortium formed by PAI Partners, the French private equity firm, led a new investment in the company. We were pleased to reinvest alongside them and the company’s outstanding management team, who also reinvested in the new buyout. Alvest’s commercial outlook is exciting. Its customers are accelerating their capital spending, having reduced it during Covid, and are looking for greener alternatives, such as electric and autonomous ground support vehicles. We believe the business is poised to grow strongly over the next few years.
Partnership stretches back almost 20 years
Ardian’s long relationship with Alvest’s management team was another key factor in our decision to reinvest. Between 2006 and 2013, Ardian was the company’s majority shareholder via its Buyout team, supporting management through the Global Financial Crisis.
We are very happy to have invested in this excellent company alongside a talented management team whom we trust and have been backing since 2018. We value their strong commitment to the company’s growth strategy.
Alvest’s success in developing recurring-revenue services since 2018 has created a broader and more resilient business opportunity that we were keen to continue supporting. We are confident that their innovative product and service pipeline will help them consolidate their global market leadership.
Deal Team
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Ardian
