CVC Capital Partners, the European and Asian buy-out firm, is stepping up its presence in France with the hires of Domnin de Kerdaniel from rival 3i as managing director and Nicolas Mouté as a director from Dutch bank ING.

Its decision to bring new blood into its French business contrasts with last year's decision by UK rival Permira to scale back its business in Paris. Permira shifted its French buy-out team to London after failing to make new investments.