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The Wire

Private equity deal news and insights from the London newsroom

Jan 7, 2025

 

PAI Partners’ Frédéric Stévenin: ‘Good time’ to invest in real economy; Deals pick up with exits and add-ons

Morning all, Craig McGlashan here on Europe Wire duty from the London newsroom.

 

Is the optimism we’ve heard from a lot of dealmakers about 2025 starting to turn into a reality? It’s too early to say for sure, but this morning at least augers well – we’ve got a string of deals to report: two exits and a trio of firms making add-ons.

 

First though, PAI Partners’ Frédéric Stévenin gives us his outlook on dealmaking for 2025, with carve-outs and the real economy at the heart of the firm’s strategy.

 

Get real

PAI Partners expects to see global carve-out activity rebound in 2025, Paris-based managing partner Frédéric Stévenin told PE Hub’s Sophie Rose in the latest of our 2025 Outlook pieces. PAI also sees plenty of opportunities to invest in the real economy this year, despite an uncertain geopolitical environment.

 

Find out more in the premium version of the Wire.

 

Check out the full interview to find out how PAI plans to manage geopolitical risks in 2025 and Stévenin’s views on the exit market.

 

Make for the exit

A sluggish exit market has been one of the pain points for private equity of late, but we’ve got a couple of sales to report this morning, involving IK Partners and Gordon Brothers.

 

Find out more in the premium version of the Wire.

  

Add-on and on

A trio of private equity firms announced add-ons this morning.

 

Bridgepoint portfolio company Achilles Information has acquired the assets of Global Risk Management Solutions, a provider of supplier risk management programs based in Irvine, California.

 

Growing Abingdon, UK-based Achilles’ international presence is in keeping with Bridgepoint’s playbook – a factor the firm’s chief investment officer Xavier Robert touched on in a recent interview with PE Hub.

 

(Note: Bridgepointowns PEI Group, the publisher of PE Hub).

 

Elsewhere in add-ons, Equistone Partners Europe has made its first for QuestGates since investing in the independent complex loss adjusting and claims services provider in September, tapping into what it believes is a highly fragmented market.

 

Find out more in the premium version of the Wire.

 

Finally, Main Capital Partners portfolio company WoodWing Group has acquired Qonqord, a provider of tech-driven consulting services and software components focused on orchestrating content management and workflow processes.

 

OK that’s all from me today.

 

Obey Martin Manayiti will be on US Wire later today and I’ll be back on Europe duty tomorrow.

 

Cheers,

Craig

 

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Today's must reads

> PAI's Frédéric Stévenin: Carve-out activity to rebound in 2025 More...
> 'CIOs are slowly shifting into a risk-on mentality for private equity,' say the Riverside Company co-CEOs More...
> Bridgepoint’s Xavier Robert: Valuation gap narrowing amid ‘normalizing’ market More...
> Cardiology ripe for PE consolidation: 5 deals that highlight the trend More...
> MiddleGround’s Justin Steil: Renewed focus on exits in 2025 More...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

 

Demand for talent drives people moves across PE strategies: People moves have been on the rise in the wealth and secondaries space. (Buyouts)

 

Mid-market specialist Quilvest launches dedicated secondaries strategy: Quilvest Secondaries Fund will primarily target GP-led transactions, though it will include a pocket for shorter duration opportunities, Secondaries Investor understands.

 

FAST-Infra hopes to be the holy grail of sustainability labels: The FAST-Infra Label is about to be launched, promising to streamline the gathering of project data on ESG and resilience. (Infrastructure Investor)

 

France Valley launches €200m carbon and biodiversity strategy: The afforestation play has a net IRR target of 10% and will deploy capital across European markets. (Agri Investor)

 

Getting personal with Katie Riester: The managing director at Felicis on why she’s excited about generative AI, raising chickens in San Francisco and the one law she would pass if she could. (Venture Capital Journal)

Deals

> Mutares exits stake in Asteri Facility Solutions More...
> Keyhaven backs Miura and Evolve Healthcare’s acquisition of HTBA More...
> IK Partners to sell GeoDynamics More...
> Gordon Brothers sells Laura Ashley to Marquee Brands More...
> Equistone-backed QuestGates adds on Toppings and Brownsword More...
> Bridgepoint-backed Achilles snaps up assets of US-based GRMS More...
People
> Leeds Equity promotes Bernstein to principal More...
> O2-backed Azureon taps Todd as chief integration and development officer and Ordonez as HR director More...
> Health Enterprise Partners promotes Rauber to VP More...

They said it

“Amidst rising labor and commodity costs and growth in capital spending, businesses that solve for cost reduction, productivity increases and higher capex will play a key role.”

— Frédéric Stévenin, managing partner, PAI Partners

 

Today's letter was prepared by Craig McGlashan

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