THE ANNUAL REVIEW 2010 - PEI Media

page 46 private equity annual review 2010
invested in companies located throughout
Europe, but made its debut deal in Spain
in August 2010, acquiring Madrid-based
independent toymaker Famosa for an
estimated €100 million. It also backed
V&D, the largest department store
chain in the Netherlands, and La Place,
a foodservice provider that operates both
standalone locations and stores within
V&D.
Kalb: turning around “I do believe that we’re at the bottom
European companies of the cycle … this is a good point in
which to be picking up assets,” Kalb told
PEI in September.
Sun Europe’s 25-person team focuses on leveraged buyouts,
equity, debt and other investments in companies with €30 million
to €3 billion in sales.
Mezzanine FIRm of THE YEAR
1. ICG Group
2. Partners Group
3. KKR Asset Management
ICG managing director Tom Attwood
told PEI in January 2010 that the mezzanine
firm’s 20-year track record of 20
percent compound returns – along with
reportedly returning more cash to LPs
than it was spending pre-credit crisis –
were prime factors in helping it to survive
the most volatile market conditions in its
history. It appears the firm has not just
survived the crisis and its aftermath, but
continues to thrive.
As of December 2010, 70 percent of
its portfolio companies were performing
at or above prior year levels, with
Attwood: confident
in ICG’s future
improvements in EBITDA and revenue pointing to a continuing
“downward trend” in impairments ICG has taken over the past
year-and-a-half, according to an interim management statement.
ICG also surpassed its €1 billion target for the ICG Recovery
Fund, which it began raising in 2008 to target the more than €240bn
in European buyout-related debt that will mature in the next two
to six years. That fund, alongside the ICG European Fund 2006,
in August acquired a €1.4 billion loan portfolio from the Royal
Bank of Scotland.
The firm also began expanding into other asset classes,
purchasing a 51 percent stake in Longbow Real Estate Capital,
which provides mezzanine and debt financing to the UK property
market.
Limited partner of THE YEAR
1. ATP Private Equity Partners
2. Wellcome Trust
3. SL Capital Partners
Denmark’s ATP Private Equity Partners has been one of the
most consistent private equity investors in the market over the
last decade.
The fund of funds generally commits €500 million to €1 billion
a year, and looks for funds that aren’t too flashy. In fact, midmarket
funds that are operationally focused and sector specific
are more likely to win a commitment from ATP PEP.
The fund of funds is exclusively supported by the €70 billion
Danish pensions system ATP and manages €6.9 billion. In 2010,
ATP PEP closed its fourth fund of funds on €1 billion with plans
to double its allocation to emerging markets assets and seek larger
stakes in existing managers.
Even a consistent investor like ATP PEP slowed down activities
in the downturn, however. In 2009, the fund of funds committed
just €142 million, well below average investments of €400 million
to €600 million pre-2008, though the fund of funds expects to
ramp up commitments this year.
Direct/co-INVESTOR of THE YEAR
1. Partners Group
2. AlpInvest Partners
3. Morgan Stanley
Zug, Switzerland-headquartered Partners Group spent time last
year beefing up its direct investment capabilities, having added
around 20 staff to its direct investment team since 2009, which
now numbers more than 120 people.
Early in the year, Partners closed a €537 million global fund
of funds, which it indicated was likely to make a number of direct
investments in both distressed companies in need of restructuring
as well as in SMEs with moderate leverage.
It went on in September to close the “Partners Group Direct
Investments 2009” on its €650 million hard-cap, its largest direct
investment fund ever. At the time of the final close, the fund had
already made 19 investments and was showing a positive net
performance.
Among the co-investments already made were Kaffee Partner,
a supplier of commercial coffee provisions and drinks dispensers
in Germany backed by Capvis, and Oasis Dental, backed by Duke
Street. The fund has also already made at least one exit, having
listed China Forestry, a forestry plantation operator, after holding
the business for six months.