Carlyle Exits McDonald's China With 7x Return, Apollo Acquires Panasonic's Automotive Business, Arctos Invests in Aston Martin F1

Recent Insights

Chart of the Week: Studies show that after a private equity acquisition, 71% of sponsors appoint new CEOs, with three-quarters of these being external hires. This is in stark contrast to S&P 500 companies, wherein internal promotions to the CEO role are much more common. We explore the profile of a PE-backed CEO in our latest insights post. (Read More)

More Insights

• The Path to Managing Director in KKR’s Portfolio Operations Group (Read More)
• Healthcare Private Equity Buyouts Remain Strong Amid Pan-European Consolidation (Read More)
• Private Equity Firms Keep Buying Tech Companies — and They’re Not Selling (Read More)

Deal News

McDonald’s has agreed to buy-back a 28% stake in its China business from Carlyle for $1.8 billion. Carlyle will generate a 6.7x return on its 2017 investment in the fast food chain, one its most successful deals ever in Asia. X.D. Yang, chairman of Carlyle Asia, told Bloomberg that the firm “transformed the business, accelerating its growth profile and revolutionizing its digital marketing and operational capabilities.” China has become McDonald’s second-largest market globally with 5,500 locations. The company plans to have 10,000 locations in China by 2028. (Source)

Panasonic has agreed to sell a stake in its automotive systems unit to an affiliate of Apollo Global Management ahead of a potential spin-off and IPO for the business unit. A deal price has not been disclosed, but automotive systems accounted for 15% of Panasonic’s $8.5 billion in sales last year. The business focuses on manufacturing infotainment and security systems for cars. (Source)

TPG is exploring an exit from Singapore Life Holdings (known more commonly as Singlife) at a $3 billion valuation. The company is the exclusive insurance provider for many of Singapore’s government agencies. TPG has a 35% stake in the company which it acquired in 2020 when the business was spun-off from UK-based insurer Aviva. (Source)

Arctos Partners is acquiring a stake in Aston Martin’s Formula One team at a $1 billion valuation.  Aston Martin is a serious contender in Formula One, with driver Fernando Alonso currently ranked fifth in F1 league standings. Arctos is one of private equity’s biggest investors in sports. The buyout firm owns stakes in six MLB teams as well as several NBA franchises. Aston Martin Formula One owner Lawrence Stroll says the team will use the influx of capital to invest in infrastructure to be even more competitive in F1 rankings. (Source)

Arlington Capital Partners is acquiring cybersecurity company Exostar from Thoma Bravo. A deal price was not announced, but Thoma Bravo acquired the company for $100 million in 2020.  Exostar specializes in developing cybersecurity solutions for highly-regulated industries, such as aerospace and defense. (Source)

Industry News

At a recent conference focused on alternative assets, private equity investors expressed concern that deal-making would remain subdued well into 2024. There were hopes that dealmaking would gain momentum going into the new year, but IPOs and other types of exits remain weak half-way through Q4. (Bloomberg)

Blackstone has raised $8 billion for a new private credit fund. The fund will continue to raise capital until reaching its $10 billion goal. Recent deals that Blackstone helped finance include Bain’s acquisition of Guidehouse and the merger of Virgin Pulse and HealthComp. (Bloomberg)

Bain Capital raised $7.1 billion for a new buyout fund focused on the Asia-Pacific region. It’s the largest pan-Asia buyout fund raised this year, and nearly twice the size of Bain’s previous Asia-focused fund. Bain is said to be looking to diversify away from China with this newest fund and is expected to do more deals in India and Japan. (Reuters)

Riverwood Capital raised $1.8 billion for a new buyout fund focused on technology companies. This new fund tops the firm’s last big fundraising effort of $1.4 billion in 2019. Riverwood, which was formed by former-KKR investors, will use the new fund to cut checks between $25 million to $100 million in fast-growing tech companies, with a focus on Latin America. (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street recruiting firm Heidrick & Struggles expects compensation growth to slow next year due to a lack of dealmaking activity. Although private equity professionals have seen a rise in base salaries in 2023, the industry is experiencing a shift in the demand for talent, particularly towards professionals skilled in credit, special situations, and operations. (Heidrick & Struggles)

People News

Tricia Rothschild has joined Advent International as an operating partner where she will work with the firm’s portfolio companies in financial services. She spent 25+ years at Morningstar, serving most recently as Chief Product Officer. 

Amol Kulkarni has joined Permira as a senior advisor where he will work on due diligence and support the firm’s portfolio companies in product development and technology strategy. Kulkarni has over 25+ years of experience in product development and software engineering, and was most recently Chief Product Officer and Engineering Officer at CrowdStrike.

Cory Eaves has joined BayPine as partner and head of portfolio operations, where he will lead digital transformation for portfolio companies. Eaves has 15+ years of experience as a C-Suite executive on the industry side and 15+ years of experience as a private equity operating partner, most recently at General Atlantic. 

Ursula Ster has joined Angeles Equity Partners as an operating partner, where she will work with portfolio companies on strategic finance. Ster is an experienced CFO with over 20+ years of experience in financial management. 

Joerg Weber has joined Asterion Industrial as an operating partner where he will advise portfolio companies in the telecom industry. Weber has over 20+ years of experience in telecom M&A, including with Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile.