Paul Halard

Paul Halard is a Directeur de Participations at IDIA Capital Investissement, the private-equity arm of the Crédit Agricole Group specializing in minority stakes in French small- and mid-cap companies. IDIA has more than 30 years of history as a long-term agri-industry investor and manages roughly €2.4 billion, focusing on the agriculture, agrifood, wine, forestry and energy-transition sectors. Halard sits within the firm's Investment team and is associated with its "Impact Agri & Agro" and ecological-transition activity, including the CA Transitions impact fund.

He studied at Université Paris-Dauphine (2006–2012), earning a Master's in Corporate Finance and Financial Engineering (graduating top of his class) after a License in Management Sciences, with an exchange period abroad during 2008–2009. Early in his career he published research on financial valuation — notably on the valuation of Bordeaux wine estates and brand valuation methods — in French finance journals around 2013–2015, work that aligns closely with IDIA's strong specialization in the wine and spirits sector.

At IDIA, Halard's mandate centers on backing companies pursuing sustainable, ESG-aligned business models and guiding portfolio companies through their growth while embedding responsible-investment principles. He has represented IDIA publicly as a speaker at LFDay, the French AgriFoodTech event, reflecting his focus on food, agriculture and impact-driven investing.

*(Note: some third-party profiles list slightly varying figures — e.g., an investor-directory entry cites a €2M–€50M ticket range and ~€1.3B AUM — and one auto-generated LinkedIn scrape references a possible move to "Crédit Mutuel Impact." These could not be independently confirmed; his verifiable, current affiliation and contact remain IDIA Capital Investissement.)*

• Invests minority, growth/development capital stakes — not seed or angel checks — typically in the ~€1M–€50M range per deal.
• Sector specialization in agriculture, agrifood, food & beverage, wine and spirits, forestry, and energy/ecological transition, mirroring IDIA's decades-long agri-industry heritage.
• Strong impact and ESG orientation: invests via vehicles such as the CA Transitions fund to back companies addressing environmental and social challenges (e.g., preserving marine resources, fair pay for producers, short supply chains).
• Looks for established, French SMEs and mid-caps with proven management teams in need of a long-term, patient minority partner to accelerate growth — as he put it on the Poiscaille deal, "*Nous sommes ravis d'accompagner Charles et son équipe dans cette nouvelle étape du développement*" ("We are delighted to support Charles and his team in this new stage of development").