The Mergermarket Private Equity Podcast

Accessing allocations from LPs is a notoriously tough process in the current market, leading to a wealth of complications for fundraising and dealmaking. There are also a number of factors driving individual investors and smaller institutions towards private markets and their returns, but simplifying and streamlining the process of onboarding these investors will be paramount to securing it. Titan...

Funds editor Harriet Matthews is joined by Unquote’s reporters, who share their insights from their conversations with market practitioners, backed by preliminary statistics from Unquote Data. According to preliminary figures on buyout activity from Unquote Data, Q1 2023 saw dealmaking fall to its lowest point in more than a decade. Meanwhile, although the overall amount raised by buyout and gener...

Approaches to ESG have shifted over the years across public and private markets, evolving significantly from a pure risk mitigation and divestment mindset. Bain Capital acquired packaging producer Fedrigoni in 2017, with BC Partners joining as a co-investor in 2022. Sessa discusses the company’s growth potential in relation to ESG initiatives and value creation, as well as Bain Capital’s investmen...

A couple of weeks on from the conference and with the reporting team now firmly reinstalled in the City of London, the themes and concerns raised by industry professionals at the conference are still present. Although fundraising and dealmaking obstacles remain, sponsors are looking for ways to overcome these, seeking out resilient companies or those with significant value creation potential. Brig...

In a market rife with uncertainty, many sponsors are shifting their focus from exiting companies via structured, broad auction processes, instead preferring to hold more direct, bilateral negotiations with credible parties to secure deals. Meanwhile, the lack of availability of debt has driven some sponsors to do all-equity deals with a plan to seek financing later, or to take on a co-investor at...

The past 12 months have been shaped by worries over rising interest rates, inflation and spikes in energy costs, with both dealmaking and fundraising taking a hit, according to preliminary figures from Unquote Data. Although the private equity industry is likely to be entering a very different market next year, sponsors will nevertheless be continuing to seek opportunities as they navigate deploym...

The past 12 months have seen a steady increase in impact-related fundraising, be it through established sponsors launching new impact funds or emerging managers entering the market with fresh strategies. Climate impact investing in particular has never been more relevant in Europe, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 driving a renewed focus on energy security and energy storage. Alo...

GP-led secondaries have been gaining increasing traction in the private equity market. Sponsors are shifting from using continuation funds to remove the problem assets from their funds, to instead using these structures to make the most of the best-performing portfolio companies – while also providing liquidity for any LPs who do not choose to roll over into the new structure. Structuring a deal t...

Growth equity has emerged as a distinct style of investing and ownership, with both challenges and opportunities lying ahead. In this episode, Shey and Krikke join Harriet Matthews to dive into each firm’s strategy, the operational skillset needed to work with and develop a growth equity company and its founders, and the future of the industry. 0:00 – Intro 1:14 – Growth equity: a definitions 5:12...

Sun European Partners began its life as a distressed investor, but has shifted its approach in recent years, bringing new opportunities, as well as a need to navigate new market segments and to focus on LP communication during this transition. Corbidge joins Harriet Matthews to discuss Sun's history, the GP's view on the market, and its approach to sectors including consumer and technology. 0:00 -...

Looking solely at deals announced in Q3, the average multiple paid in PE-backed deals jumped to 12.4x, versus 11.8x in Q2. To help us round up the main highlights of the report, Unquote editor Greg Gille spoke to Marcus Archer, managing partner and head of private equity at Clearwater International, while Unquote reporter Harriet Matthews interviewed David Cannon, managing director of KeyBanc Capi...

However, between the vaccine rollout, and the repeal of many public health directives, life has returned to these beleaguered businesses, and private equity firms are presented with clear survivors in need of a capital injection to transform them into consumer stalwarts. Unquote looks back at how the sector has fared, and speaks with Gaëlle d’Engremont, partner and head of the food & consumer...

As Europe's fundraising market continues to bifurcate in favour of the largest GPs, a placement agent worth its salt is increasingly vital for debut-fund managers and investors in the lower-mid-market. Sinha joins Unquote editor Greg Gille to discuss how the role of the placement agent has evolved in a rapidly changing market, if we can expect the current fundraising bonanza to continue, how small...

In this episode, Unquote speaks with Elliot Refson from Jersey Finance to discuss how the jurisdiction is looking to better understand LP expectations and foster an ESG-focused ecosystem. 0:00 – Intro 4:41 – ESG in Jersey 6:43 – What LPs want 11:11 – Championing diversity -- Unquote would like to thank Jersey Finance for sponsoring and contributing to this episode of the podcast. Th...

Amid an increasingly bifurcated fundraising market in which the biggest GPs gather up the vast majority of capital, how can debut funds and smaller private equity managers lure commitments from LPs? How has the role of placement agents evolved, and how can they continue to mature with the market? And how are secondaries helping to redefine PE's attractiveness? Our guest unpacks all this, and more,...

The record-breaking pace of European PE activity at the start of the year eased back a little in Q2, but only a little: Q2 deal value still reached the second highest level in seven years, while deal volume recorded its third highest total. A slight dip though this may be, entry multiples continued their rise for the fifth consecutive quarter, to reach an average of 11.8x over the last 12 months....

Baldwin was recently appointed as chair of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) until March 2022. She has also had a long and storied career in the European venture capital space: having started her career at BDO, she joined Venture Technologies in 1998, investing in the first wave of UK deep-tech companies. She then co-founded VC firm IQ Capital in 2006 and went on to...

Unquote editor Greg Gille welcomes our reporter Harriet Matthews to delve into the PE landscape, breaking down the data by region, and revealing a promising outlook for almost everyone in the industry. 0:00 – Intro 1:16 – Hectic H1 5:01 – But UK flounders? 8:17 – DACH delivers 11:11 – Scandinavian success 12:06 – France forges on 14:45 – Fundraising frenzy -- Theme music: ©2012 Kick Up The Fire

Unquote editor Greg Gille welcomes Alessia Argentieri onto the pod to talk about European PE fundraising on a macro level. Argentieri also spoke with Marc Wursdorfer, head of UBS's private funds group, to get his take on not just buyout strategies, but secondaries and venture fundraising as well. 0:00 – Intro 2:34 – How funds fared in 2020 5:09 – LP interests 7:55 – Interview with Marc W...

Unquote editor Greg Gille spoke with Marcus Archer, Clearwater’s managing partner and head of private equity, about the overarching trends in PE pricing, while senior reporter Alessia Argentieri caught up with Clearwater’s international head of healthcare, Ramesh Jassal, to get his take on the health sector. For an assessment of the Nordic region, Unquote reporter Eliza Punshi spoke with Clearwate...

This episode, Unquote editor Greg Gille speaks with Vincent Van den Brink and Greg Kok from fund administrator JTC to see how recent months have affected the fortunes of first-time funds. 0:00 – Intro 3:10 – How the pandemic has affected emerging managers 6:43 – Underlying shifts and opportunities 12:10 - Practical considerations for first-time funds 22:40 - Is a fund administrator optional?...

This episode, Unquote speaks with Elliot Refson from Jersey Finance to discuss what the Channel island can offer private equity GPs. 0:00 – Intro 4:26 – Political and economic certainty 7:35 – Growing trends 8:39 – ESG inroads -- Unquote would like to thank Jersey Finance for sponsoring and contributing to this episode of the podcast. Theme music: ©2012 Kick Up The Fire

On this episode of the pod, Katharine Hidalgo hosts Unquote reporter Harriet Matthews to examine the importance of recurring revenues – what they are, how businesses can adapt to attain them, and their effects on valuations. We also speak to Searchlight Capital Partners' founding partner, Oliver Haarmann, to get his take on the business model. 0:00 – Intro 3:47 – Impact on due diligence 6:32 – Int...

BC Partners invested in Aenova – a contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) – in 2012, but when the business floundered in 2017 from a market leading position, the decision was taken to take the wheel and steer the ship back towards growth.  Kengelbach was appointed CEO and has spent the following four years returning the company to profit through operational, commercial and...

Unquote reporter Katharine Hidalgo spoke with Marcus Archer, Clearwater’s managing partner and head of private equity, about the overarching trends in PE pricing, but also caught up with Clearwater’s partner and international head of consumer, Richard O’Donnell, to get his take on the consumer sector, as well as with Thomas Gaucher, Clearwater's managing partner in France, to look at the local pic...