Pierre Pupier

Pierre Pupier is a French entrepreneur-investor associated with Dirigeants et LBO, also referred to as DLBO. Public profiles describe DLBO as a private company created in 2005 that invests its own capital in French startup creation and in the takeover of French TPE and SME companies. Premier Alternatives lists Dirigeants et LBO as a Paris-based family office founded in 2005, with Pupier as Founder & Manager.

Before DLBO, Pupier worked from 1998 to 2003 in commercial, marketing and finance roles at MMA / GMF / AZUR Mutuelles d’Assurances Associées. From 2003 to 2005 he co-founded and led ADDILL, Pupier, Jouve & Partners, an executive-search firm focused on senior leaders. His education is listed as a maîtrise in philosophy from Université de Lettres d’Aix-en-Provence, 1992–1996.

Pupier’s own public profile and speaker bio emphasize roughly 15 years of private equity through his family office, including the acquisition, development and resale of about twenty French SMEs in LBO structures. His listed deal examples include La Sommelière, Finaxy Group, Weiss France and Maisons du Midi, alongside startup creations such as Peter Franklin, LNF / Les Nouvelles Formations and Ma Vie en Sport.

In 2024 he co-authored *De la stratégie en entreprise: Conversation avec Pierre Pupier* with former Essilor chief Xavier Fontanet, published by Manitoba / Les Belles Lettres. He also founded Solutions CEO, a peer-advisory platform for French PME and ETI leaders that says it mobilizes experienced former CEOs and entrepreneurs to help company leaders with strategy, growth, operations, governance and related management issues.

• Pupier’s clearest stated investment focus is DLBO’s self-funded model: “Nous investissons en capital pour notre propre compte dans la création de Start-up ou la reprise de TPE et PME françaises.”
• DLBO’s buyout focus is French SME takeovers; one directory profile says the firm targets French companies with revenue between €3 million and €50 million.
• He appears to favor owner-led, operationally improvable French SMEs rather than pure financial engineering. A Dauphine Alumni event bio describes his private-equity history as buying, developing and reselling profitable French SMEs in LBOs.
• He has also created or co-created businesses directly, including Peter Franklin, LNF / Les Nouvelles Formations and Ma Vie en Sport, suggesting a builder/operator approach alongside capital investment.
• His current Solutions CEO positioning reinforces the same thesis around practical executive experience: the company says SME leaders need concrete advice from operators who have already faced comparable growth, strategy, hiring, M&A, internationalization, governance and operational challenges.