Laurent Benard

Chief Executive Officer

17 years spent in building Capza, a private equity midsize platform active through six strategies with nearly €6bn of AUM. Laurent joined CAPZA in 2004, after 4 years within Bank of Scotland’s LBO department. He was quickly promoted through the ranks to Principal in 2007, Partner in 2008 and CEO in 2011. Laurent had a leading role in originating, executing and overseeing more than 30 transactions at CAPZA. Laurent has built and led CAPZA’s Private Debt Franchise which has become the reference partner of top tier European private equities sponsors for mid-market financing with nearly 3bn assets under management. As CAPZA CEO, Laurent contributed to transforming CAPZA from a French boutique into a truly pan European platform, growing assets from €600 million to €6bn in 10 years and expanding the team from 15 people to more than 90 people. Laurent holds an MA in finance from the University of Edimburgh and a post graduate diploma in corporate finance from Paris Dauphine University (DESS 225).