Axa Private Equity this morning continued to breathe life into the French buyouts market following a surprise agreement to sell chemicals company Eliokem to listed US firm Omnova Solutions for €227.5m, the latest in a recent flurry of deals from the French group.

The firm said it "did not anticipate at all an exit this year, but took the opportunity to explore a sale when a number of trade buyers expressed an interest. 'It's not every year that trade buyers are in the market and a window opens,' said Thibault Basquin, a director of Axa Private Equity.