Mergermarket Private Equity Forum New York 2023
Mergermarket's brand-new event for the North American private equity community!
The Plaza, New York
26
Apr
Exits: an evolving landscape
Given current economic conditions, US PE firms are likely to navigate the exit market vis-a-vis more unique approaches. In a bid to get liquidity for their LPs, and with the IPO market effectively down, trade sales to strategic players have increased, and buyouts and take-privates have also been outpacing exits. On the venture capital side, investors are thinking of M&A as an exit opportunity as well- with more activity in this area higher compared to the past few years. Our panel of GPs and M&A experts will discuss their strategies in this space.
- Are GPs under pressure to sell, or are some firms taking a wait-and-see-approach?
- Given the dramatic decline in IPOs, what are some creative strategies GPs have used to exit, including trade sales, secondary transaction exits and selling to strategic buyers ?
- Will there be a rise in traditional auction process-led M&A?
- Will the exit market pick up pace in 2023?
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SpeakersBob A. Rivollier Partner ROPES & GRAY
Milwood Hobbs Jr Head of North American Sourcing and Origination OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
Sujit John Managing Director PARTNERS GROUP
Luca Pietrantoni Managing Director, Head of Financial Sponsors International INTESA SANPAOLO
Sheryl Schwartz CIO ALTI FINANCIAL
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Bob Rivollier is a partner in the private equity transactions group in the firm’s New York office. With over a decade of experience advising clients on leveraged buyouts, M&A and financing transactions, Bob is a trusted adviser for private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies on their most critical transactions and other business initiatives.
Bob has advised clients on many large transactions, including complex carve-out transactions, across many industries and verticals, such as health care and pharma, industrials, technology, business services, and consumer/retail. Within the health care industry, Bob has also developed a particular focus on management services organizations.
Some recent examples of Bob’s work include:
- Health care and pharma: advising Avista Capital Partners on its acquisition of Probo Medical, Avista’s portfolio company United BioSource on its acquisitions of Marketshare Movers and Examoto, and TPG’s portfolio company BVI® on its acquisition of Benz Research & Development
- Industrials: advising American Industrial Partners on the sale of AHF Products and The Cabinetworks Group, and the acquisition of the Lewisport automotive body sheet plant from Novelis
- Technology: assisting Partners Group on its minority investment in VelocityEHS and its majority investment in Idera, and Wirecard on the sale of its U.S. business to Syncapay
- Business services: advising Partners Group on the acquisition of Foundation Risk Partners and the sale of a 50% stake in USIC to a consortium led by Kohlberg & Company
- Consumer/Retail: guiding Partners Group on its acquisition of Careismatic Brands
- Management services organizations: representing Avista Capital Partners on its acquisition of National Spine and Pain Centers, Heartland Dental on its acquisition by KKR, and Heartland Dental on its acquisition of American Dental Partners
A native of Luxembourg, educated in Belgium, Scotland and the United States, and fluent in English, French, German and Luxembourgish, Bob brings a valuable global perspective to a dealmaking landscape that is increasingly cross-border in nature. He has worked as a transactional lawyer in both New York and London, and he frequently represents non-U.S. private equity sponsors in connection with their inbound investments into the United States.
Ranked Up & Coming in Chambers USA 2020-2022 and Chambers Global 2021-2022, Bob has been described by clients as “a sharp negotiator”, “very thoughtful” and “commercially savvy.” Clients say that they “truly value his guidance in tough situations” and that Bob is someone they can trust in complex transactions.
Milwood Hobbs, Jr.
Managing Director and Head of North American Sourcing & Origination
Mr. Hobbs leads Oaktree’s North American Sourcing and Origination group, which focuses on private credit sourcing and deal origination for the firm’s U.S. Private Debt, Global Private Debt, Special Situations and Global Opportunities strategies. He also serves on the investment committee for Oaktree’s Direct Lending platform. Prior to joining the firm in 2013, Mr. Hobbs was an executive director at Natixis Securities focused on building the high yield sales and trading franchise. Prior thereto, he spent five years at Goldman Sachs as a vice president in leveraged finance origination and sales. Before joining Goldman Sachs in 2007, Mr. Hobbs was a director in Leveraged Finance at Deutsche Bank Securities, which he joined in 2000. Additional experience includes regional account management focused on fleet financing at GE Capital Corporation and controller for Leveraged Finance at Bank of America. Mr. Hobbs received his M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.S. degree in accounting from Rutgers University.
Sujit John is a Managing Director in the Private Equity Health and Life business unit of Partners Group, based in New York. He is a member of the Direct Private Equity Health and Life Investment Committee. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the firm's portfolio companies Pacific Bells, PCI Pharma Services, Blue River PetCare and Axia Women's Health. His previous Board Director roles include Multiplan, Inc. and USIC. He has been with Partners Group since 2012 and has 17 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked at WestView Capital Partners, Arlington Capital Partners and Citigroup Global Markets. He holds a bachelor’s degree in management from Boston College, Massachusetts, USA.
Luca joined Intesa Sanpaolo in London in 2018 as Managing Director and Head of Financial Sponsor International.
He is responsible for the relationship with financial sponsor clients in the International markets leading a team of bankers based in London and in New York.
Previously, Luca spent 5 years at HSBC as Managing Director in the Global Banking division where he was Head of Advisory for Italy. Before that, he spent 15 years at Morgan Stanley in London and in Milan where he was responsible for originating and executing advisory, financing and capital market transactions for international and Italian corporate clients, private equity funds and institutional investors.
Luca graduated from Bocconi University in Milan with a degree in Business Administration and Finance. He is a Qualified Chartered Accountant in the UK.
Sheryl Schwartz is a Co Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Alti, which has created products that give individual investors greater access to institutional quality private equity opportunities. In addition, she serves on the Board, Audit Committee and Compensation Committee of Cartesian Growth II, a Nasdaq listed company and is an Adjunct Professor Finance and Private Equity at Fordham Gabelli School of Business. She is a seasoned executive, institutional investor and board member with financial expertise that has built and lead teams and new asset classes for major institutional investors. She has had over 25 years of financial management leadership roles with pension funds, insurance companies and investment firms with financial acumen across asset classes and industries. She has sector expertise in alternatives, private equity and fixed income.
Previously she was a Managing Director at Caspian Private Equity, Perseus and TIAA-CREF. In her roles, she lead investments in private equity on behalf of institutional investors where she built diversified portfolios with a focus on ESG, emerging managers and mid market. At Alti, TIAA, Caspian and Perseus, she is or has been a member of the Investment and Executive Committee for alternative investments including funds, co-investments, mezzanine debt, timber and real estate. Previously, Ms. Schwartz built and led TIAA-CREF’s Alternative Investment team, which included building a diversified portfolio of $13 billion of investments in private equity funds, co-investments, mezzanine debt and timber and included management, leadership, portfolio strategy, composition, performance, asset allocation, underwriting and presentations to senior management, the board and institutional clients.
Ms. Schwartz serves on the Board of Directors of Nasdaq listed Cartesian Growth II and the Women’s Association of Venture and Equity, which is a nonprofit organization committed to the development and advancement of women in private equity and venture capital since 2007. Ms Schwartz is currently a Fellow at AIF and has served in various positions for AIF since 2013, a think tank focused on Alternative Investment industry. Ms Schwartz also served as an LP Advisory Board member for many private equity funds.
Ms Schwartz was one of Mergers & Acquisitions "Most Influential Women in the Mid Market M&A" in 2015 , 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2022 and was featured in the Wall Street Journals, “Six of Private Equity’s Most Influential Female Gatekeepers” in 2017 and in Buyouts Magazine in March 2019 “Building networks: 10 women Thriving in PE and helping transform the culture” .
Ms. Schwartz holds both a B.S. and an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University.