Philippe du Mesnil is a trained agricultural engineer. At the beginning of his career, Philippe du Mesnil occupied various administrative posts, beginning with the Ministry of Agriculture and European Affairs and then the French Embassy in Rome. In 1991 he accepted the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Veterinary branch of SANOFI, a role he maintained for eight years, with the specific mission to restructure this activity and move on.

  

In 1995, Sanofi decided  to sell its American veterinary subsidiary, thus reducing its international presence by half. Consequently, the future of Sanofi Animal Health Europe was severely compromised. Philippe du Mesnil knew better than anybody the weaknesses of the company that he had carefully restructured between ' 91 and ' 95, but he also firmly believed in its future. In 1999 Sanofi sold Sanofi Animal Health to Paribas Affaires Industrielles and Philippe du Mesnil decided to invest in this hand-over project along with his management team within the framework of a LBO. A shared conviction gradually developed around a common project: this company had a future as an independent company. At that time, the challenge seemed almost impossible to undertake, as not many people believed that an independent veterinary company, with no affiliation to a larger pharmaceutical group had much chance of survival.

  

Concentrating on the "unique strategic thought", Philippe du Mesnil and the management team established a model of accessible development, associating internal and external growth, which they genuinely believe in, and which still holds firm ground today. So, the challenge was met: this 60-year-old entrepreneur and the management team proved that the independent veterinarian companies can develop and, in 2007 thanks to a new shareholder change, the management team and executives took control of the company alongside Euromezzanine and Natixis Private Equity.