After years of seeing American private equity firms making inroads on their home turf, European buyout shops are using the lull in LBO activity caused by the credit crunch and a weak dollar to bolster their U.S. presence.
Bloomberg
reports that:
Permira Advisers LLP, and London-based competitors Apax Partners Worldwide LLP, BC Partners Ltd. and CVC Capital Partners Ltd. are getting ready to compete against Blackstone Group LP and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. on their home turf. The companies are using a lull in deal-making to build a beachhead in the U.S. and hire bankers to find acquisitions.
Putting aside the fact that Apax has been active in the U.S. markets for years, the other firms indeed have had less exposure on this side of the Atlantic. A quick check of its Web sites shows that BC Partners lists no U.S. investments, CVC two (Samsonite Corp. and Univar) and Permira three current investments (Aearo Technologies Inc., Freescale Semiconductors Inc. and Intelsat).
Recent closings by European firms include a €5.4 billion ($8.4 billion) fund for PAI Partners Tuesday and a €6.6 billion midmarket fund for Advent International Corp. And thanks to the 22% appreciation of the euro against the dollar in less than two years, the buying power of European investment funds has greatly increased as well. - George White
See Bloomberg story
See PAI story on TheDeal.com
See Advent story on TheDeal.com
