Key ideas

I&P was formed in April 2002 by professionals with backgrounds in private equity, business and consultancy. Its role is to take on concrete commitments to entrepreneurs in developing countries, applying private equity processes and the experience that it has to offer in this domain. I&P is focused on a few key ideas:

• Give preference to investment in developing countries with political and economic environments that offer a reasonable prospect of long-term activity
• Commit to in-depth relationships with high-quality partners in well-researched, shared projects
• Take on significant financial exposures in these businesses and, if necessary, facilitate the arrangement of complementary financing
• Help partner businesses to develop management skills and the ability to formulate a strategic vision
• Free the spirit of enterprise by giving it the means to express itself.

AN INVESTMENT LOGIC

The investment project must make economic sense and be financially profitable for all parties involved. In doing preliminary due diligence I&P carefully evaluates the soundness of a project, its market position and its economic coherence. I&P also takes into account the quality and motivation of management; the potential long-term liquidity of the planned investment; and of course the risks, including those associated with the project's economic and political context.

Beyond profitability, I&P pays particular attention to the utility of the investment. I&P considers an investment to be useful if it contributes to the economic development of the country (job creation, skills development, technology transfer…). The further an investment is beyond the scope of traditional, locally-established banking and financial institutions, the clearer its utility. I&P's investments in microcredit institutions reflect this attachment to utility: a single investment serves multiple micro-businesses, enabling many of these to succeed.

A PARTNERSHIP LOGIC

I&P wants to be a real partner. This implies a quality relationship with the management of partner firms and a genuinely shared vision. However fully an investment project meets profit and utility criteria, I&P's readiness to take part is conditioned by the quality of the relational context. To be a partner means to develop a climate of confidence, a team spirit, respect for contractual relations, and the will to add reciprocal value. These represent a set of values to which I&P is strongly attached, going beyond considerations of their economic effectiveness.

   

I&P relies on a network of local or specialist experts to provide effective follow-up for its chosen businesses. These are men and women who hold the same fundamental views underlying the creation of I&P.

I&P has chosen a commercial corporate structure, compatible with the rules of a market economy and able to attract private individual and institutional capital.

I&P limits its structural costs to a strict minimum.

I&P aims to ensure a regular dividend payment to its shareholders while also providing for growth in its investment capacity.