(Bloomberg) --Ardian SAS, CVC and other investment firms teamed up to help finance medical research as well as education in impoverished areas of France using the private-equity model for philanthropy as the past week's riots underscore the desperate state of some Paris suburbs.
The companies set up a fund that raised EUR25 million ($27 million) in its first closing and will donate as much as 80% of its capital gains to the Institut Imagine, a Paris research and care center focused on rare genetic diseases that afflict children, and Esperance Banlieues, a school network for poorer neighborhoods, the partners said in a statement.
France's suburbs are once more in the spotlight following last month's fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy of North African descent by a police officer in Nanterre, just outside Paris. The killing fueled an explosion of rage that led to the worst riots in almost two decades, highlighting the desperation and hopelessness in some of these blighted towns.
The fund, called Invest for Childhood and led by the French responsible finance pioneer Raise, stands out in a country with a long tradition of financing schools and health care with public money.
Axa SA, Oddo BHF and other companies helped with the first funding round. The project partners also include BC Partners and Astorg Partners SAS.
(Updates with entity that launched the fund in penultimate paragraph.)
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