Banque Postale Subsidiary Expands into Germany

LBP AM, the asset management subsidiary of the French postal bank is planning a private credit push in Germany and is bringing leveraged finance banker Alexander Schäfer on board for this purpose. 

Article published in German in Borsen-Zeitung on 17 February 2026 
Philipp Habdank, Gesche Wüpper

La Banque Postale is leaving its domestic French market and opening an office in Frankfurt. 

French asset manager LBP AM is targeting Germany’s mid-sized companies (SMEs). To this end, the Banque Postale subsidiary is opening an office in Frankfurt and appointing leveraged finance banker Alexander Schäfer as Investment Director. He will be responsible for driving LBP AM's bank-independent lending activities (direct lending). The direct lending fund, which is currently in fundraising, is expected to reach up to €800 million in size. The asset manager is 75% owned by La Banque Postale and 25% by Aegon Asset Management.

"Germany is a key milestone in our European expansion," says Peter Arnold, Head of Private Markets at LBP AM in Europe. The goal is to reach €20 billion in assets under management by 2030 with the European private markets platform. As of the end of 2025, the platform had raised €10 billion in capital. Founded in 2012, LBP AM's private markets division provides not only corporate loans but also infrastructure and real estate financing.

"We invest in companies with EBITDA starting at €8 million," Arnold says. The focus is primarily on family-owned businesses facing generational change that can be supported by a private- equity partner. Credit funds often provide acquisition financing for such private equity deals. Across Europe, there are potentially 35,000 to 50,000 such companies with EBITDA between €5 million and €100 million.

LBP AM is not alone in pursuing this strategy. A wide range of private equity and private debt funds are focusing on the upcoming generational transition in German SMEs. According to KfW Research, around 186,000 company owners are planning to retire and hand over to a successor by the end of this year. According to KfW, this represents around 5% of all small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany. By the end of 2029, around 545,000 of the total 3.87 million SMEs are expected to have seek succession solutions.

The challenge, however, is that only a fraction of these companies ultimately opt for private equity. Compared with other European markets, financial investors still face headwinds in the German SME sector. According to KfW, more than half of all owners (55%) still prefer a family-internal succession solution. However, 42% have recently considered a sale. Management buyouts and employee takeovers play a comparatively minor role.
In addition, competition among financial investors is intense. LBP AM is not the first foreign investor to try its luck in German-speaking region. French competitors such as Ardian, Eurazeo, and Tikehau set up operations here much earlier. Oddo and CIC have also been active in the market for years..