Our people
30 June 2025
Charles de Villaines has built Macquarie Capital’s French private credit business providing companies with specialised financing to unlock growth. Following a life-changing accident that left him blind at the age of 18, he has continued to embrace opportunities, challenge the status quo and create a world of new possibilities.
In 2020, when Charles de Villaines was given the opportunity to establish Macquarie Capital’s private credit business in France, he seized it.
“I had to create a team from scratch. I thought that was both an appealing and challenging opportunity, and it was particularly interesting to do it within a part of the business that was growing, has financial backing and leadership support,” says Charles, the Paris-based Head of Macquarie Capital Private Credit France.
Since then, he has built a strong team, investing in companies in France and helping them grow.
“It’s really interesting working with medium-sized private companies, because the way they are financed directly impacts various aspects of their day-to-day operations, as well as their growth trajectory and strategy,” he says.
He is particularly proud of the partnership with Berger-Levrault, a 500-year-old family-run business that pivoted into software into the 1980s. As the team’s largest investment in France, the deal has helped facilitate Berger-Levrault’s international expansion and a significant increase in its earnings since Macquarie’s investment. “We have built a close relationship with the company’s management and shareholders … and our involvement goes beyond our debt provider role.”
Charles’ achievement establishing and advancing the private credit business in France is impressive, particularly given the challenges he has had to overcome in his lifetime having lost his sight in a car accident at just 18 years old.
“Your world completely changes overnight. You have no idea what is going to be possible for you anymore,” says Charles. “A lot of people would tell me, ‘No, you can’t do this,’ because they thought it was too difficult or because no-one had ever done it before. My way of thinking was, let me try it out, and then we’ll see if it is possible or not.”
Advancements in technology have helped equip Charles to pursue his educational and professional milestones. Armed with early screen-reading software – “In 2001, I was the only person in the entire class with a laptop” – he graduated with a Master’s in Finance from Université Paris Dauphine and a Master’s in Management from HEC Paris, before embarking on a career in investment banking.
It can be far from easy to forge a career in an industry as competitive as financial services, but with coordination with the IT department to provide a screen reader and other adapted software, as well as support from colleagues in visual tasks such as presentation formatting, Charles says he’s needed “only minor adjustments” on a day-to-day basis to accommodate his disability.
“I’ve always had the message, directly and indirectly, that if there’s anything I reasonably need in terms of organisation or equipment to do my job, I just need to raise my hand.”
After completing an MBA at the Wharton School in the United States and spending 12 years in leveraged finance at various European banks, an opportunity arose in 2020 for Charles to join Macquarie. “I really liked the people I met during the recruitment process,” he says. “They were inspiring: very smart, highly professional, driven, yet friendly.”
He notes that, at Macquarie, “inclusion is at the heart of the group’s culture,” whether in terms of fostering different opinions and perspectives or supporting personal needs. For Charles this also applies to juggling work and home life, in raising two small children under three. “We need to be very organised, as both my wife and I have quite a lot of focus in our work.” He adds that Macquarie offers “a variety of benefits for carers,” including six weeks of paternity leave in France, and there are options for flexibility in adapting working hours to the evolving needs of those with parenting and/or caring responsibilities.
Amongst the challenges following his accident, Charles learned not to take ‘no’ for an answer – a philosophy he applied to his passion for snowboarding, using a sighted guide to help him navigate the slopes. “It’s true for higher education, sports, my career choices … I’ve always thought, ‘let me give it a go’.”
While Charles expresses satisfaction that Macquarie’s principal finance operation is now well established in France, to further develop the business he says, “we’ve still got quite a bit of work here…we will be staying close to our clients … and working to identify opportunities for them and for us. These are interesting times to be in Private Credit investing, and at Macquarie in particular.” Companies continue to need reliable partners who can support them through volatility and market dislocations, and Macquarie has the financial strength and expertise to do so.
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