July 10, 2025 | Finance & Corporate Strategy
The Soufflet family holding company carried out a spectacular capital increase of €271 million in April 2025, bringing its equity to €277.6 million. This monumental transaction comes four years after the sale of the Soufflet agri-food group to InVivo for €2.3 billion, marking the definitive transformation of this structure into a wealth investment vehicle. Now led by Jean-Michel Soufflet since the death of founder Michel Soufflet in September 2024, the company, based in Gouvieux, Oise, is developing an ambitious diversification strategy, particularly in real estate, with a €30 million investment in the REALITES group.
A historic recapitalization with multiple objectives
The capital increase of April 15, 2025, represents a 43-fold increase in the share capital of Financière du Nogentais, increasing from €6.4 million to €277.6 million. This massive injection of cash, decided by sole shareholder Jean-Michel Soufflet, aims to provide the holding company with the necessary resources for its new post-sale investment strategy. The transaction is part of the Soufflet family’s overall asset restructuring, four years after selling their century-old agri-food empire to the cooperative giant InVivo.
This recapitalization also comes at a time of generational transfer accelerated by the death of Michel Soufflet at age 94. The patriarch, who had transformed the small family grain business into a European leader in malting with €5 billion in revenue, still came to the office until two days before his death. His only son, Jean-Michel, aged 67 and at the helm since 2010, is now single-handedly orchestrating the holding company’s transformation towards new investment horizons.
Responsible real estate as a new playing field
The diversification strategy took shape in July 2022 with the acquisition of a stake in REALITES, a listed regional developer specializing in responsible real estate. Financière du Nogentais invested €30 million of the €35 million raised, acquiring the shares at €45 per share, representing a 30% premium to the stock price. This significant stake, which comes with a seat on the board of directors, illustrates the Soufflet family’s desire to refocus its assets towards promising sectors aligned with ESG issues.
The investment in REALITES, a mission-driven company targeting €800 million in revenue by 2025, marks a departure from the family’s long-standing agri-food DNA. This diversification appears all the more necessary given that the holding company’s most recent published financial statements in 2021 showed a net loss of €4.5 million on revenue of €7.3 million, reflecting the difficulties of the post-sale transition.
An industrial heritage transformed into an investment engine
The metamorphosis of Financière du Nogentais reflects the spectacular evolution of the Soufflet family heritage. From an operational holding company managing the agri-food group’s investments, it has become a pure investment vehicle since the sale to InVivo, which was finalized in December 2021. This transaction, valuing the entire Soufflet business at approximately €2.3 billion, enabled the family to monetize 65 years of industrial development initiated by Michel Soufflet in 1957.
The transfer of the head office from Saint-Nicolas-la-Chapelle in the Aube department to Gouvieux in the Oise department in March 2023 symbolizes this new era. With only 3 to 5 employees, the lean structure now manages a diversified portfolio of assets including real estate investments through the SCI du Nogentais and agricultural interests through the GFA de la Chapelle Godefroy. The company has also made a number of acquisitions, notably withdrawing from SUCASTAR in June 2024.
Significant Challenges to Sustain the Family Wealth
Managing a significantly increased wealth poses new challenges for Jean-Michel Soufflet, a graduate of ISC Paris and the CPA de Jouy-en-Josas. Beyond tax optimization of capital gains and investment diversification, the issue of transferring assets to the next generation arises. At 67, the current chairman must prepare for the succession of a family fortune estimated at over €1 billion, while preserving the shareholder unity that has made the Soufflet Group so strong.
The successful integration of the Soufflet Group into InVivo, creating a European champion with €10 billion in revenue, provides a favorable framework for this wealth transition. The sale agreements have preserved the Soufflet identity and maintained the Nogent-based operations, allowing the family to turn the industrial page without denying its heritage. This balanced approach between strategic change and continuity of memory could inspire other French entrepreneurial dynasties facing the challenges of succession.
About Finance Nogentais
Headquarters: 6 rue Victor Hugo, 60500 Gouvieux
SIREN: 334 076 056
Share capital: €277,582,696.27
Legal form: SAS, simplified joint-stock company
Chairman: Jean-Michel Soufflet
