Morning all, Craig McGlashan here with the Europe Wire from the London newsroom.
The UK is our focus this morning as we look at new figures from the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association that suggest private capital investors, on balance, see the country as an attractive place to invest.
Sticking with that theme, we have a couple of deals involving UK-headquartered companies. First, Yellow Wood Partners has just sold its majority stake in a Glasgow-based skincare brand. Next, Samsung Life has agreed to buy a minority stake in London-headquartered Hayfin Capital Management.
We then look at Investindustrial opening a new office in Tokyo, before we finish with news that Apollo’s lead partner for European private equity is leaving the firm.
Made in the UK
Growth has been a buzzword of the UK government since the Labour party came into power a year ago and while GDP figures have been sluggish, more private capital investors believe the country is an attractive place to invest than don’t, according to new research from the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association.
Four in 10 of those surveyed said the UK was either a ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ place to build a business, although for ‘excellent’ the figure was just 4 percent. Only 20 percent said the UK’s attractiveness was ‘poor’ (18 percent) or ‘very poor’ (2 percent).
While just over half of respondents said that they expected their investment in the UK to likely remain the same over the next five years, 29 percent said they were likely to invest more, with 20 percent expecting a drop.
Investors cited “a strong domestic economy, clarity around long-term approach to taxation and the regulatory environment” as the most common factors behind the UK’s attractiveness.
Private capital investment in the UK rose to £29.4 billion ($39.8 billion; €34.0 billion) in 2024, according to the BVCA, up 44 percent year-on-year.
However, the BVCA is calling on the government to do more to help private capital, including tax relief reforms to reward long-term investment, championing of regulatory innovation, and further and faster pension reform.
How do readers feel about the investment opportunities in the UK? Send your views to me at [email protected]
Bonnie Scotland
What sort of deals have been happening in the UK?
Yellow Wood Partners has just sold its majority stake in Glasgow-headquartered skincare brand Byoma to Bansk Group.
The Byoma brand will be wholly divested from Yellow Wood portfolio company Future Beauty Brands, and will continue to be led by Marc Elrick, CEO and founder of Byoma.
Founded in 2022, Byoma is a skin barrier and skin health brand. It has generated over $500 million in retail sales since its launch.
Asian push
Samsung Life has agreed to buy a minority stake in London-based Hayfin Capital Management from Arctos Partners.
Founded in 2009, Hayfin is an asset management firm with around €32 billion in assets under management. The firm specializes in providing critical debt, equity and hybrid capital services. It also has offices in Chicago, Dubai, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Munich, New York, Paris, Stockholm, San Diego and Tokyo.
In July, Mubadala Investment Company and AXA IM Prime entered into strategic partnerships to buy a stake in Hayfin.
Samsung Life will support Hayfin’s investment strategies in tandem with becoming a minority shareholder, a statement read.
The transaction further strengthens Hayfin’s footprint in South Korea, reaffirming its commitment to clients in the region, the statement continued.
Japan opening
Speaking of expanding footprints in Asia, Investindustrial has opened a new office in Tokyo.
Tokyo will be Investindustrial’s ninth office and the third in the Middle East and Asia, joining Abu Dhabi and Shanghai. Collectively, these offices have 21 employees.
Over the past 12 months, Investindustrial has completed add-on acquisitions in China, India and Saudi Arabia, totaling approximately €500 million in combined enterprise value.
“By establishing Japan as a new strategic geography, we reinforce our long-term belief in the region’s potential and our role in driving global growth for the companies we invest in,” said Andrea C Bonomi, chairman of the Investindustrial industrial advisory board, in a statement.
Japan’s buoyant private equity market has also attracted other international GPs to the region. For more on what’s bringing the likes of KKR and Bain Capital to the country, check out this recent article on the subject by PE Hub’s John R Fischer.
Change at the top
We finish with some more people news. Apollo’s lead partner for European private equity, Michele Raba, is leaving the firm.
Alex van Hoek, another partner, will take over. He joined the firm in 2010. Since 2021, he has been based in London and overseen the firm’s efforts in various sectors in Europe, including consumer, retail, and transportation and logistics.
Raba joined Apollo in 2010. He has been involved in transactions including Gala Coral, Braas Monier, Watches of Switzerland, Nova KBM, Oldenburgische Landesbank, Gamenet, Lottomatica, Reno De Medici, Allwyn, Ingenico and the Travel Corporation.
That’s it from me today. Rafael Canton will write to you from the US later today and Nina Lindholm is in the Europe chair tomorrow.
Cheers,
Craig
