Pierre Decre

Pierre Decré is one of the founding-generation Partners of Parquest Capital, a Paris-based mid-market private equity firm, where he has invested since 2002. A graduate of HEC, he has spent nearly his entire career in French private equity. He began at Caisse Française de Développement (1987–1988), then spent almost a decade at Financière Saint Dominique (1989–1998), followed by four years at SG European Private Equity (1998–2002) before helping build the team that became Parquest.

Parquest was originally the French mid-market arm of ING Parcom Private Equity and later spun out as an independent firm; Decré has been a fixture across that evolution and today sits among its group of Partners who share investment decision-making. He took the role of Chairman of Parquest III, the firm's third fund, which held its final close in June 2024 at €414 million, oversubscribed against a €400 million target.

Across two decades at the firm, Decré has led and overseen numerous control investments in French mid-sized businesses, spanning software, industrial products, consumer/retail services, and healthcare. His approach reflects Parquest's stated philosophy of hands-on, majority partnership with founders — "there is no investment without human investment" — rather than passive or minority capital.

• Invests in established, profitable French mid-market companies (~€20–150M revenue), not startups — this is buyout capital, not seed/angel money.
• Takes majority / control positions via MBOs, OBOs, family-business successions, and carve-outs from larger industrial groups; supports buy-and-build growth through bolt-on acquisitions.
• Concentrates on three sectors: B2B Services, Software, and Health & Care.
• Backs founder and management teams who want a long-term, locally engaged majority partner. On Accès Industrie, Decré said he recognized the company's development potential and "was able to convince the founders of the value of having a majority investor by their side, able to provide a long-term vision and concrete, local support."
• Emphasizes concentration and selectivity over volume — the firm's motto, quoted by Decré, is "Values make Value," and it describes choosing to "invest less but always better."