Sun Capital to expand in NYC, open in Shanghai

Sun Capital Partners will soon triple its office space in Manhattan and open a second, portfolio company-focussed office in China as it deploys its $6 billion (€3.8 billion) Fund VI.

The firm’s New York-based staff has grown from three to 17 investment professionals since opening the office in 2001. In mid- to late-June, Sun Capital will move across the street from its 375 Park Avenue position to an office triple in size at 100 Park Avenue.

“We’re growing to accommodate deal flow,” managing director Gary Talarico recently told sister magazine PEI Asia. “As our funds have grown in size, having a larger presence in New York clearly made sense because we’re getting more and more deal flow from the larger investment banks here.” Though a $6 billion fund allows it to pursue larger deals, Sun Capital has not changed its investment strategy nor minimum equity cheque amount, he added.

Sun Capital is also growing its Asian offices.

Later this year, it plans to open an office in Shanghai. It already has an office in Shenzhen, where 16 Sun Capital professionals source products or operational prospects for portfolio companies.

The Shanghai office will be more deal-oriented, but with regards to add-ons, facilities and joint ventures for existing portfolio companies.

“I think we’ll consider doing deals there, but for the most part we’re operationally-driven,” Talarico said.

The office will be led by Victor Gao, who from 2000 to 2007 was president of the Greater China division of Eaton Corporation, a $13 billion industrial manufacturer. Gao was also president and chairman of Eaton Investments, where he oversaw regional M&A activity.

Gao is currently training at Sun Capital’s Boca Raton headquarters for approximately six months, a process in which all of Sun Capital's Asia-based partners have participated.

The firm also recently expanded its Japan office with the hire of Akitoshi Nakamura to lead Sun Capital Japan. Nakamura was previously vice chairman and director of Japanese private equity firm Nikko Principal Investments, before which was a managing director for the Board of the Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan (IRCJ), a government-sponsored entity established to assist troubled companies with restructuring.

More information about Sun Capital’s global growth – including details on development of its London office, recent deals and 2007 track record – will be featured in the May issue of PEI Asia.