Christopher Spencer, the former head of Candover's office in Paris who left to join Clayton Dubilier Rice in September last year, has resurfaced as one of the four founding partners of Sagard, a mid-market Franco-Canadian fund.

Sagard has raised €600m ($700m) in commitments for its first fund. The fund's other investment partners include Antoine Ernoult Dairaine, a former investment banker at Goldman Sachs in Paris; Fred Stolar, a private equity professional with experience at both Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus; and Jocelyn Lefebvre, who represents the Desmarais family, owners of the Quebec-based Power Corporation and an anchor investor in Sagard.