Every day counts - Deutsche Beteiligungs AG

INTERNATIONAL BUYOUT FUNDS –
BALANCE IN THE PORTFOLIO
Deutsche Beteiligungs AG · Annual Report 2002/2003
Corporate Review – Investments Investments in funds
We not only invest in Germany, but in other countries as
well. For a number of reasons: partnerships with established
international private equity firms improve our competitive
standing – as this past financial year impressively shows.
In the future, we plan to highlight this benefit even more.
Moreover, this strategy enables us to gain access to attractive
international investment opportunities. International
investments also contribute towards balancing our portfolio
geographically. We intend to continue to pursue this strategy
in the future, even though we do not plan to increase the
share of international investments in the portfolio.
Profiting from performance in various ways
Our international activities are synchronized with our strategy of focusing on management
buyouts: we have, for the most part, invested in funds and private equity companies
in the United States and selected European countries that concentrate on majority acquisitions
in the form of management buyouts, as we do. Their activities are based on the
same investment strategy as ours: to provide capital to mid-market enterprises with excellent
market positions and seasoned managements. Deutsche Beteiligungs AG profits from
the capital gains generated by these funds. Same philosophy, broad expertise, long years
of experience – but in other markets: that way, we achieve a more favorable risk spread
than by focusing on one market alone.
Additionally, there are instances when negotiating a transaction alongside an international
partner constitutes a distinct competitive benefit – as our investment in Casco
Surfaces GmbH (page 24) shows. Casco’s management expects much of the support
that will be coming from Harvest Partners, who structured and completed this transaction
jointly with us. Should Casco Surfaces plan to grow through add-on acquisitions in
the US – Casco’s largest market – its management will have access to Harvest Partners’
network, experience, and industry insights.
This past year, we again committed and provided further capital to the funds managed
by our private equity partners in the US and France. The actual total of this portfolio is
thus partly linked to the investment progress and investment strategy of our private
equity partners. The share of fund investments in the portfolio has risen slightly to 22.2
percent. We have invested a total of 66.4 million euros in this business field.
Investing in several markets
achieves better risk spread
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