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Munich Re’s Gregory Schmitt on selecting the right manager; H&F, Main Capital, TA Associates target smart car software

Morning Hubsters,

Happy Fri-yay! John R Fischer here with the US Wire from the New York newsroom.

To kick things off this morning, we hear Gregory Schmitt’s, head of private equity and co-investments for insurer Munich Re’s asset management arm, thoughts on the buyout segment. Schmitt is one of the speakers at theNEXUS 2025 conference in March.

Then, we have a 6-deal listicle on an automotive subsector that has caught the attention of Hellman & Friedman, Main Capital Partners and TA Associates.

For our Friday Focus, we’ll talk about Everview Partners, a new PE firm launched this week by a former Centerbridge Partners senior managing director.

Different game

Gregory Schmitt, who serves as head of private equity and co-investments, has been with MEAG MUNICH ERGO Asset Management for almost a decade. Schmitt is one of the speakers at PEI Group’s NEXUS 2025 conference in Orlando from March 10-12. He spoke with Madeleine Farman, senior reporter for affiliate title Private Equity International,about what the allocator looks for in a buyout manager, how it views co-investment opportunities and where opportunities and pitfalls could lie in the secondaries market.

In addition to this, I recommend checking out other preview interviews PE Hub conducted with panelist Xavier Robert, partner and chief investment officer at Bridgepoint, on the valuation gap and his dealmaking outlook for 2025; and speaker Orlando Bravo, the co-founder and managing partner of Thoma Bravo, on interest rates, the IPO market and cybersecurity.

(Editor's note: Bridgepoint owns PEI Group, the publisher of PE Hub.)

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to read these conversations.

Driving change

The emergence of connected tech, self-driving cars and EVs has led to strong demand for specialized software in the automotive industry. That strong demand for carmakers to add software has led to interest from private equity in North America and Europe.

Software has touched several subsectors within the car industry, including marketing, sales and auto repair. PE Hub’s Rafael Canton identified six private equity deals in the automotive software space from the past six months.

Premium users can read the full list.

Friday Focus

Following an 18-year career at Centerbridge Partners, Billy Rahm left to set up his own PE firm, Everview Partners, which launched this week.

Become a premium subscriber to learn more.

That’s all from me. As always, if you have any questions, thoughts or want to chat, please email me at [email protected].

Nina Lindholm will be on Europe Wire duty on Monday, and MK Flynn will bring you the US Wire on Monday.

Cheers,

John

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

The fight over how to tax carried interest is back in full swing, as President Trump on Thursday suggested ending the treatment of carry as capital gains rather than as ordinary income. (Venture Capital Journal)

Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension Fund is considering changing the name of its biannual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Investment report, after Trump issued an executive order outlawing DEI programs at the federal level. The move has the pensions worried about the prospect of legal action. (Buyouts)

A report released this week by Search With Purpose looked at compensation data for ESG heads and found that, in marked contrast to a few years ago, firms today understand the value they provide. (New Private Markets)

Montana Capital Partners has appointed a new leadership team, tapping a Lazard managing director in the process. Managing partner Stephan Wessel has been elevated to chief executive of Montana with fellow managing partner Christoph Jäckel moving into the role of chief investment officer, the firm told Secondaries Investor.

The bankruptcy experiment that failed: Unless explicit language of an underlying credit agreement allows non-pro-rata treatment, the uptier becomes "just a question of damages." (Private Debt Investor)

Natural capital investment manager Mirova has “secured commitments approaching €100 million” and welcomed a cohort of new LPs to its Mirova Sustainable Land Fund II, said a statement from the firm. French insurers Allianz France, Abeille Assurances and BNP Paribas Cardif have come on board alongside private and public capital mobilizer SDG Impact Finance Initiative. (Agri Investor)

Deals

They said it

“There’s a bit of an interesting trend here where larger pockets of capital are seeking exposure to the (lower) mid-market. As it should be in that market, there’s going to be significantly larger volatility in returns in there. I think errors will be made on that front…It’s going to be a good moment to have good safeguards in terms of selecting the right managers.”

— Gregory Schmitt, head of private equity and co-investments, MEAG Munich Ergo Asset Management

Today's letter was prepared by John R Fischer

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