Private Equity News & Analysis

Side Letter: Introducing PEI’s performance data; Warburg’s $15bn; Africa’s Adenia exclusive

Wondering how a fund has performed? PEI has you covered. Plus: Warburg Pincus is nearing the final close on its latest flagship; and Africa's Adenia Partners smashes prior raise. Here’s today's brief, for our valued subscribers only.

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Just happened

PEI’s new performance data: Have you tried it?

PEI’s new performance data
At a time when resource-constrained LPs are thinking carefully about which GPs to re-up with, a firm’s track record becomes more important than ever before. Just as well, then, that Private Equity International has this morning launched a fund performance data offering. Fund profiles on our database now disclose how much of a fund’s capital has been called and how it has performed in terms of TVPI, RVPI, DPI and IRR. The data covers 84 of the largest 100 funds closed between 2008-20, and funds that comprise 50 percent of all capital raised over that period. Try it out for yourself on our Private Equity Database.

Warburg’s war chest
Warburg Pincus is inching closer to a final close on its latest flagship. The growth giant has gathered $15.4 billion for Warburg Pincus Global Growth 14, according to a Friday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Fund XIV launched in the heady fundraising days of 2021 with a $16 billion target, our colleagues at Buyouts reported at the time (registration required). The vehicle, which has already surpassed the size of its 2018-vintage predecessor, appears to be taking longer to raise this time round; Fund XIII launched and closed in the space of a year, according to PEI data. A sign of the times.

Eurazeo’s retail raises
Raising capital from institutional investors may have become more challenging last year, but the retail channel appears to be in good health. Such investors accounted for more than €800 million of the €3.1 billion raised by French alternatives firm Eurazeo last year, per a statement. That’s an almost 50 percent increase from the prior year.

Eurazeo said it had “stepped up” investment offerings dedicated to the retail segment, including Eurazeo Principal Investments in private equity and a real estate-focused European Long-Term Investment Fund. It also established more distribution partnerships with the likes of Société Générale-owned Boursorama bank. PE accounted for approximately €1.6 billion of inflows last year across vehicles such as Eurazeo PME IV, Eurazeo Smart City Venture II, Digital IV and biotech-focused Kurma Growth Opportunities I.

Essentials

Adenia’s Africa fund
African PE firm Adenia Partners has held a $300 million first close on its latest flagship, according to details shared exclusively with Side Letter. Adenia Capital V, which will be the firm’s first pan-regional vehicle, is seeking $400 million and has already surpassed its 2017-vintage predecessor, which closed on €230 million. Returning LPs include the International Finance Corporation, the European Investment Bank, France’s Proparco and Banque Publique d’Investissement, Dutch development bank FMO, Germany’s DEG and Norway’s Norfund. New investors include the US International Development Finance Corporation and FinDev Canada.

Adenia V will target between 10 and 12 control investments across Africa, with a median deal size between $30 million and $50 million. The vehicle has been selected as a 2X Flagship Fund, qualifying under terms of the 2X challenge for its goal of having a positive impact on women. It will also set carbon reduction targets for all fund investees.

How things Mittelstand
German GP Deutsche Beteiligungs believes there are reasons to be optimistic about the country’s mid-market. The picture last year was somewhat muted: PE completed 43 MBOs in the Mittelstand last year, one-third fewer than in the previous year; market volume also fell to €4.1 billion against €6.6 billion in 2021, according to a report from the firm. “The combination of war in Ukraine, soaring energy costs, inflation and higher interest rates really put the M&A market under pressure,” said management board spokesman Torsten Grede in the statement.

Still, there were reasons for positivity: primaries accounted for a high share of deal value, which DBAG said signals a healthy buyout market that isn’t reliant on secondary buyouts. What’s more, the total number of MBOs still exceeded the 10-year average of 39. Over the long term, the buyout market in the Mittelstand is growing at an average annual rate of around 7 percent, the research noted. The report also pointed to more promising figures in 2023 – investment opportunities recorded in DB’s internal system for Q4 2022 increased to 51, up from 44 in Q3. Grede, for his part, is “convinced that the buyout market will pick up momentum in 2023”.

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