Exit of the Year – Large Cap (Equity commitment on entry – $150 million and above)
Intellihub (Pacific Equity Partners)
Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) sold a 50% stake in Australia-based electricity meter business Intellihub to Brookfield Asset Management at an enterprise valuation of AUD 3.2bn (USD 2.3bn) in August 2022. The remaining 50% was transferred to a single-asset continuation fund. PEP carved out the business from Origin Energy in 2018 and combined it with Landis+Gyr’s smart meter unit. The enterprise value on entry was AUD 397m. Intellihub had 750,000 units with Origin as the primary customer; this became 2m units with more than 30 counterparties across Australia and New Zealand. PEP generated a 5.2x gross multiple and an 83% IRR.
Interplex (Baring Private Equity Asia)
Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) sold Interplex, a Singapore-headquartered precision engineering business, to The Blackstone Group for an enterprise value of USD 1.6bn in January 2022. It acquired the company through a take-private for USD 582m in 2016. The 4x return was built on the transformation of an undermanaged, lower-margin traditional manufacturing company into a provider of specialised high-precision products. This included a pivot towards secular megatrends around electric vehicles, big data, and medical technology, which now account for over 70% of revenue. BPEA also revamped the management team and completed the bolt-on acquisition of North America-based OCP Group.
Max Healthcare (KKR)
Two block trades in August 2022 generated approximately INR 91.9bn (USD 1.15bn) in proceeds for KKR and enabled the private equity firm to complete its exit from Indian hospital operator Max Healthcare. The journey began in 2017 with the acquisition of a 49% interest in Radiant Life Care for about USD 200m. Radiant Life merged with Max Healthcare two years later, creating India’s third-largest hospital network by revenue and fourth largest by number of beds. KKR took a 51.9% stake in the merged entity and reduced its position to 27.5% through several block trades ahead of the final exit.
Sona Comstar (The Blackstone Group)
The Blackstone Group generated INR 40.4bn (USD 506m) through a partial exit from India-listed automotive systems and components manufacturer Sona Comstar in August 2022, reducing its stake from 34.1% to 20.5%. The GP acquired Comstar Automotive Technologies, producer of the world’s lightest starter motor, for USD 125m in 2018 and merged it with drivetrain specialist Sona BLW Precision Forgings in 2019. Once combined, the company went from having zero revenue in the electric vehicle (EV) segment to servicing one in eight EVs sold globally. An INR 55.5bn IPO came in June 2021, with Blackstone receiving most of the proceeds.
Tricor Group (Permira)
Permira sold Asia-centric corporate services provider Tricor Group to Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) for an enterprise value of USD 2.76bn in October 2022. It acquired the business for USD 835m in 2016 and completed two refinancings during the holding period. Revenue and EBITDA grew 2x and 2.5x, respectively. Efficiencies, credited with expanding gross margins by 500-600 basis points, were driven through digital transformation, service delivery and process optimization, and the deployment of more than 300 bots to automate repeated tasks. There were also 12 bolt-on acquisitions, which contributed to overall headcount growing 40% during the holding period.