Aster Capital and the Secureq Deal - Teaching Note

The case describes the attempt by Aster Capital, a Paris-based venture capital fund focused on clean technology, to exit an investment in its portfolio company Secureq, a France-based security software vendor. Can an agreement be reached with other shareholders to unlock Secureq's potential? If not, should Aster pursue the sale of the company now, even at a lower valuation? At the same time, Aster feels that there might be future opportunities to exit in the context of a very fragmented security software industry. The teaching note outlines the analysis of the case issues and the potential flow of the class discussion.