Private Equity News

Evelyn Partners is being advised on the transaction by Evercore as financial adviser and Macfarlanes as legal adviser. Apax is being advised on the transaction by Jefferies and Nomura.

Evelyn Partners has sold its professional services business to private equity giant Apax for £700m, according to people familiar with the matter. Private equity giant Permira owns a majority stake in the firm, which currently has around £62.7bn in assets and 4,000 staff, while Warburg Pincus LLC retains a minority interest. Evelyn Partners and Permira have been approached for comment. Apax declined to comment. The deal was first reported by The Times. The bidding war for Evelyn Partners’ professional services business took off last month, with Inflexion, TA Associates, Bridgepoint and Goldman Sachs’s private equity arm among the buyout shops in the running.

BC Partners is preparing to put its insurance services firm Davies on the block, as the private equity giant forges ahead with a major selling spree.

Cinven has snapped up a majority stake in Grant Thornton UK LLP. The buyout giant turned to Goldman Sachs International for M&A advice and Freshfields for legal advice. Consultancies Oliver Wyman, EY and Deloitte picked up mandates on commercial, operations and tax matters respectively. Rothschild & Co and DLA Piper advised Grant Thornton alongside L.E.K. Consulting and EY. Edin Imsirovic reports on the deal in the link below

Private credit giant Ares Management Corporation is mulling an office in Milan, following hot on the heels of other buyout firms setting up in Italy amid a direct lending and high net worth investor boom. Story by Kristen McGachey

The private markets investment arm of JPMorganChase has made a senior hire in its secondary private-equity business. The asset manager with around $2.9 trillion invested across listed and private assets reached into the ranks of Australian investment bank Macquarie Group to hire Dean Hoang, who has been appointed executive director of secondaries in J.P. Morgan’s $33 billion private-equity group, according to several people familiar with the matter. 

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has agreed to buy a co-controlling stake in financial adviser Max Matthiessen from Nordic Capital. Nordic, which initially acquired Max Matthiessen in 2020, will re-invest via Nordic Capital XI, following the exit of its initial investment through Nordic Capital IX. 

Canadian pension fund giant Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) has hired City veteran Dame Sharon White to head up its European team. White, who was chair of the John Lewis Partnership until September, is joining the group as managing director and head of Europe at the end of January next year. She will replace David Morley, who retired from his role as head of Europe at CDPQ in April this year. "[White’s] expertise and collaborative approach will help play an important role in developing CDPQ’s global capabilities and contribute to our growth ambitions both in the UK – our largest investment destination outside of North America – and across Europe,” said CDPQ's Marc-Andre Blanchard.

Campbell Lutyens is opening a new office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as it joins a growing number of private capital firms rushing to the region. The DIFC branch will be led by Phiras Soubra, managing director and senior executive officer. The UAE has been one of the largest beneficiaries of private equity's move to the region, with its capital Abu Dhabi attracting the likes of AXA Investment Managers Alts, Ardian, Investindustrial and Tikehau Capital in recent years. Meanwhile, General Atlantic announced late last month that it plans to open an office in Saudi Arabia, joining recent entrants such as Apex Group Ltd and Franklin Templeton.

Inflexion has acquired finance site and trading platform Finanzen from media giant Axel Springer. The private equity firm is investing in the German business alongside the founders in a carve-out deal.