The heterogeneous performances of French mid-caps

France’s 5,400 mid-cap companies , or “intermediate-sized enterprises” ( abbreviated as ETI in French) , together account for 25% of employment, 30% of revenues, 34% of exports, 27% of value added, 29% of fixed assets (capital) and 30% of investment by French companies. As they export and invest heavily, they appear to form a large group of efficient companies. Moreover, their growth is higher than that of other groups of companies. Between 2010 and 2017, the value added of large enterprises stagnated, that of SMEs grew by 18% and that of mid-caps by 26%; exports by large enterprises grew over this period by 42%, those of mid-caps by 38% and those of SMEs by only 20%. But this analysis is misleading. Indeed, France’s mid-caps are a very heterogeneous category that includes: Independent French mid-caps (2,088); Multinational mid-caps under French control (1,658); Multinational mid-caps under foreign control (1,447). We note that the dynamism of France’s mid-caps stems from the country’s multinational mid-caps, and in particular those that are subsidiaries of foreign groups, and not independent French mid-caps. This makes it a very heterogeneous group of companies.