If private equity dealmaking is all about forging relationships, then having a presence and local knowledge in a potential target’s country is vital – especially as the industry becomes increasingly cross-border in nature.
Many firms have been planting flags in European hubs, whether it’s sponsors from the continent expanding their reach or GPs from the US looking for a European presence. PE Hub looked at deals this year in the three biggest European economies that benefited from the recent opening of a hub.
UK
US tech investor Thoma Bravo in October completed the all-cash acquisition of Darktrace, a cybersecurity artificial intelligence business based in Cambridge, valuing the company at around $5.3 billion.
The pair agreed on the take-private terms in April, their second attempt at a deal after early-stage discussions in 2022 failed to reach terms.
Since those aborted talks, Thoma Bravo opened a London office led by Irina Hemmers, a plan first announced in September 2022.
“Europe is a critical market for the growth of Thoma Bravo, and the launch of a London office represents a significant step forward in our ability to partner with some of the best software companies in the world as we continue to extend our investment strategy globally,” said Orlando Bravo, a founder and managing partner at Thoma Bravo.
Boston-headquartered Great Hill Partners also leveraged its London office, which it opened in March 2023, to set up a couple of deals.
The GP agreed to make a majority investment in Vivup, a health and wellbeing benefits provider, and Perkbox, a global benefits and reward platform, in March.
Both the companies will merge to form an employee wellbeing, benefits and engagement platform to serve the UK’s public and private employee benefits sectors. Vivup and Perkbox are based in Farnham and London, respectively.
Germany
It’s not only been US GPs growing their presence in Europe – there’s been some cross-border activity within the continent, too.
Inflexion is already reaping rewards from its appointment of Martin Preuss from Intermediate Capital Group as partner and head of DACH in March. Part of Preuss’ remit was to build a dedicated team in Frankfurt, and the firm has already been signing deals in Germany.
The London-headquartered mid-market investor agreed to invest in Tierarzt Plus Partner (TPP), a German group of veterinary practices, in July, only its second direct German investment.
Then in November, Inflexion agreed to buy Finanzen.net Group, a digital broker and financial information portal based in Karlsruhe, Germany, from Berlin-based Axel Springer, which was recently split up in a deal involving KKR and CPP Investments.
“The vision that we have for the business is to create one of the leading, digitally led investment platforms in the DACH region,” Andrea Bertolini, a partner at Inflexion, told PE Hub in a deep dive into the deal.
France
Brookfield was in the process of setting up a Paris office to add to its European locations in London, Madrid and Frankfurt, the head of the firm’s PE business in Europe, Tristan Tully, told PE Hub in a Dealmakers to Watch interview in April.
The official opening came in December, but in the interim the then Toronto- (now New York-) based private equity firm in June agreed to acquire a majority stake in Neoen, a Paris-based global renewable energy developer, at an equity valuation of €6.1 billion.
Brookfield announced its plans to acquire Neoen in May.
PE Hub will be keeping an eye for other deals benefiting from a local presence in 2025 – as well as GPs opening new offices across the globe.
