Private equity in the 2010s

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In the 2010s Private equity massively grew. [1] As of 2019, there were nearly 7,000 private equity firms within the United States, nearly $2.5T globally in unspent cash (known as dry powder), and dealmaking in private equity accounted for 13% of global acquisitions. [2] [3]

Contents

Largest deals

In February 2013, H.J. Heinz went private through 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway in a deal valued at $28 billion. [4] In 2015, the company merged with Kraft Foods to form Kraft Heinz, at which point 3G and Berkshire together owned approximately 50% of the merged entity. [5]

In October 2013, Dell was acquired by Michael Dell and Silver Lake (investment firm) for $21.5 billion, the largest technology buyout at the time. [6]

Proposed legislation and reaction

In 2019, Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced legislation aimed at regulating private equity firms. Co-sponsored by Senators Kristen Gillibrand and Bernie Sanders, among others, the bill aimed to hold firms liable for the debts and pension obligations of portfolio companies, and restrict private equity firms' receipt of dividends and fees from acquired companies. [7] In response, the American Investment Council and the United States Chamber of Commerce conducted studies to analyze private equity’s economic benefits and the potential consequences of Warren’s legislation. An academic study by the University of Chicago, Harvard Business School and other institutions showed job losses following buyouts of public companies, and job gains after buyouts of private companies, casting doubts on "the efficacy of ‘one-size-fits-all’ policy prescriptions for private equity," according to report authors. [8]

ESG and impact investing

Many private equity firms embraced ESG and impact investing over the decade. [9] Such investing has been criticized as greenwashing, largely due to a lack of parameters and varying definitions of the practice. [10] [11] [12] The Impact Management Project, a protocol developed by 700 impact investing professionals to establish an evidence-based measurement of social and environmental returns, was launched in 2016. [13] [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heinz</span> American food processing company known for its ketchup and condiments

The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures a couple thousand food products in plants on six continents, and markets these products in more than 200 countries and territories. The company claims to have 150 number-one or number-two brands worldwide. Heinz ranked first in ketchup in the US with a market share in excess of 50%; the Ore-Ida label held 46% of the frozen potato sector in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leveraged buyout</span> Acquired control over a company by the purchase of its shares with borrowed money

A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money (leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loans, along with the assets of the acquiring company. The use of debt, which normally has a lower cost of capital than equity, serves to reduce the overall cost of financing the acquisition. This is done at the risk of magnified cash flow losses should the acquisition perform poorly after the buyout.

In the field of finance, private equity (PE) is capital stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public. Private equity is offered instead to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the companies. In casual usage, "private equity" can refer to these investment firms rather than the companies that they invest in.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkshire Hathaway</span> American multinational conglomerate holding company

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1839 as a textile manufacturer, it underwent a drastic restructuring into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the leadership of chairman and CEO Warren Buffett and vice chairman Charlie Munger. Today, the company's earning power is diversified across a broad portfolio of subsidiaries, equity positions and other securities. Insurance is a major area of operations and the float generated serves as an important source of capital. Buffett and Munger are known for their advocacy of value investing principles and under their direction, the company's book value has grown at an average rate of 20%, compared to about 10% from the S&P 500 index with dividends included over the same period, while employing large amounts of capital and minimal debt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kraft Foods</span> American food and beverage company

Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July 2, 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TPG Inc.</span> American investment company

TPG Inc., previously known as Texas Pacific Group and TPG Capital, is an American private equity firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. TPG manages investment funds in growth capital, venture capital, public equity, and debt investments. The firm invests in a range of industries including consumer/retail, media and telecommunications, industrials, technology, travel, leisure, and health care. TPG became a public company in In January 2022, trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “TPG”.

Bain Capital, LP is an American private investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, crypto, tech opportunities, partnership opportunities, special situations, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry sectors and geographic regions. The firm was founded in 1984 by partners from the consulting firm Bain & Company. The company is headquartered at 200 Clarendon Street in Boston with 22 offices in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early history of private equity</span>

The early history of private equity relates to one of the major periods in the history of private equity and venture capital. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital experienced growth along parallel although interrelated tracks.

MidOcean Partners is a New York–based alternative asset management firm that specializes in mid-sized private equity and alternative leveraged investments.

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Environmental, social, and governance (ESG), is a set of aspects, including environmental issues, social issues and corporate governance that can be considered in investing. Investing with ESG considerations is sometimes referred to as responsible investing or, in more proactive cases, impact investing.

Blair W. Effron is an American financier. Effron co-founded Centerview Partners, a leading global investment banking firm based in New York City. Centerview has offices in London, Paris, Chicago, Los Angeles, Palo Alto and San Francisco. The firm provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, financial restructurings, valuation, and capital structure to companies, institutions and governments.

3G Capital is a global investment firm and private partnership built on an owner-operator approach to investing over a long-term horizon. Founded in 2004, 3G Capital evolved from the Brazilian investment office of Jorge Paulo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira, and Marcel Herrmann Telles. 3G Capital is led by Alex Behring, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner, and Daniel Schwartz, Co-Managing Partner.

Tracy Britt Cool is an American business executive and entrepreneur who was widely noted as a Warren Buffett protégé. She chaired four Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries before co-founding Kanbrick, a private equity firm, in 2020.

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References

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  2. Vandevelde, Mark (15 October 2021). "How private equity came to resemble the sprawling empires it once broke up". www.ft.com. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  3. Espinoza, Javier; Platt, Eric (27 June 2019). "Private equity races to spend record $2.5tn cash pile". Financial Times. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  4. Goldbacher, Ray; Krantz, Matt (14 February 2013). "Heinz agrees to buyout by Berkshire Hathaway, 3G". USA TODAY. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  5. Stempel, Jonathan; Ablan, Jennifer (25 February 2019). "Warren Buffett says Berkshire overpaid for Kraft Heinz". Reuters. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  6. Alden, William (February 5, 2013). "Dell's Record-Breaking Buyout". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  7. "Elizabeth Warren: "Private equity firms are like vampires"; proposes curbs on Wall Street in new bill - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  8. Warmbrodt, Zachary (17 November 2019). "In battle with Warren, it's all about chicken". Politico. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  9. Bunker, Laura Kreutzer and Ted (2020-01-02). "Ten Trends That Shaped Private Equity Over the Past Decade". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2022-11-27.
  10. "What One Private Equity Investor Calls 'Greenwashing,' Another Calls ESG". Institutional Investor. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
  11. KPEC, King's Private Equity Club-. "Greenwashing and its Implication in Venture Capital". The London Financial. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
  12. "Scrutiny of ESG claims for private investments grows". Financial Times. 2022-07-03. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
  13. Addy, Chris; Chorengel, Maya; Collins, Mariah; Etzel, Michael (1 January 2019). "Calculating the Value of Impact Investing". Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  14. Schultz, Abby (15 May 2018). "Accounting For Impact Alongside Market Returns". Barron's. Retrieved 10 April 2024.