AlpInvest backs €300m Equistone deal

The process on electrical components supplier Sicame comes after Equistone made the first investments from its reinvestment fund, raised to maintain minority exposure to good assets.

AlpInvest Partners has emerged as lead investor in Equistone Partners Europe’s first GP-led processes.

The Carlyle Group subsidiary anchored a single-asset continuation vehicle for Sicame, a supplier of electrical connectors and accessories, according to a statement. Commitments from the GP, rolling LPs and the company’s founding families made up the rest of the total, which is understood by Secondaries Investor to be around €300 million. Equistone declined to comment on the total amount raised.

Lazard advised on the process.

European mid-market buyout shop Equistone became a minority shareholder in Sicame in 2009 via Fund III, before buying a majority stake in 2016 via its €2 billion Fund V. The business generated more than €450 million in revenue during 2021, the statement said.

ApInvest is investing its $9 billion seventh secondaries programme, which closed in December 2020, according to Secondaries Investor data.

Equistone has been actively looking to remain exposed to its best assets for longer than the 10-year fund life. In March, the firm said it had made the inaugural investments from its Reinvestment Fund, which reinvests on a minority basis on businesses sold by its flagship funds.

The firm has often maintained some exposure to companies it sold to other sponsors, partner and head of investor relations Christiian Marriott told affiliate title PEI. The problem is that the selling fund tends to be several years into its life, while the buying fund is still in its investment period. These misaligned time horizons are rectified by using a specialist reinvestment fund, he said.

Although Europe was the location of landmark early GP-led deals, such as Nordic Capital‘s €1.5 billion restructuring in 2018, GP-led demand in the continent is yet to reach appetites seen in the US. Secondaries funds are typically investing 70 percent of their funds in US assets, LGT Capital Partners’ partner and co-head of secondaries André Aubert told affiliate publication Buyouts.