Advent International, one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors, today announced that it has completed fundraising for Advent International GPE VIII Limited Partnership (“GPE VIII” or the “Fund”), reaching its hard cap of $13 billion (€12 billion) after six months in the market. Advent’s previous global fund, GPE VII, closed on $10.8 billion (€8.5 billion) in 2012.
GPE (Global Private Equity) VIII will pursue the same strategy as its predecessor funds, investing in buyouts, recapitalizations and growth equity transactions, primarily in Europe and North America and selectively in other regions such as Asia and Latin America. The Fund will focus on five industry sectors in which Advent has significant experience and knowledge: (1) business and financial services; (2) healthcare; (3) industrial; (4) retail, consumer and leisure; and (5) technology, media and telecom.
Across its target sectors and regions, Advent will seek to invest in well-positioned companies with the potential for further operational improvement and partner with management teams to create value through revenue and earnings growth.
“We are pleased with the strong support we received from both existing and new investors,” said David Mussafer, a Managing Partner at Advent International in Boston. Mr. Mussafer is one of 14 Managing Partners at Advent. “We believe that our success is a result of our long-established sector focus, global footprint and network, private partnership model, and the significant operational resources and expertise we apply to our investments. This solid foundation positions us well to continue to find and build successful businesses around the world.”
GPE VIII will be invested by a team of more than 130 investment professionals across Europe, North America and Asia. These individuals can leverage the expertise and networks of additional professionals from Advent’s Latin American Private Equity Fund (LAPEF) program, which focuses on investments throughout Latin America.
“Our global team is one of the largest and most experienced in the private equity industry,” said Ralf Huep, a Managing Partner at Advent International in Frankfurt. “This platform allows us to generate a broad set of opportunities, invest selectively in the most compelling businesses and drive operational improvement and growth to create value.”
“GPE VIII received commitments from a diverse base of institutional investors across the globe,” said Johanna Barr, a Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Limited Partner Services at Advent International in London. “Approximately 90% of the committed capital came from limited partners in Advent’s prior funds, with the remaining commitments provided by a select number of new investors.”
“We are fortunate to have a large, loyal group of investors and greatly appreciate their support in making this a successful fundraising,” said Robert Weaver, a Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Limited Partner Services at Advent International in New York. “We will work to earn their continued commitment by maintaining our focus on value creation.”
STRONG 25-YEAR TRACK RECORD
Advent’s GPE program has established a strong track record of investments and exits over seven generations of funds and several economic and private equity cycles. Since 1990, the program has invested in 228 private equity transactions in 29 countries and fully or substantially realized 190 of those investments.
Recent investments by the GPE program include Ammeraal Beltech, Corialis, Hypo Group Alpe Adria and Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari Italiane (ICBPI) in Europe; Distribution International, Genoa and Noosa in North America; and Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, The Learning Lab and QuEST Global Services in Asia.
Recent IPOs and sales of companies in the GPE program include Casa Reha, Douglas, Equiniti, GFKL Financial Services, Priory Group and Worldpay in Europe; Bojangles’, Party City and TransUnion in North America; and CARE Hospitals in Asia.
KEY COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES
Over its long history of international investing, Advent has developed a number of core capabilities which it believes provide significant competitive advantages throughout the investment life cycle:
In addition to the GPE program, Advent is currently investing its sixth Latin American private equity fund, LAPEF VI. Capitalized at $2.1 billion, the 2015-vintage fund focuses on buyouts and growth equity investments in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Chile and other countries in the region.
Founded in 1984, Advent International is one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors. The firm has invested $30 billion (€23 billion¹) in more than 300 private equity transactions in 40 countries. As of December 31, 2015, it had $29 billion (€27 billion) in assets under management, which does not include the $13 billion (€12 billion) raised for GPE VIII. With offices on four continents, Advent has established a globally integrated team of over 170 investment professionals across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on investments in five core sectors, including business and financial services; healthcare; industrial; retail, consumer and leisure; and technology, media and telecom. After more than 30 years dedicated to international investing, Advent remains committed to partnering with management teams to deliver sustained revenue and earnings growth for its portfolio companies.
For more information, visit
www.adventinternational.com
¹Amount invested in euros calculated by converting the local currency of each investment into euros at the time of the investment.
Source of English press note: Advent International