Apax Partners has cancelled plans to move assets from its 2007-vintage fund into a continuation vehicle after discussions with the fund’s limited partner advisory committee, Secondaries Investor has learned.
The London-headquartered buyout firm notified investors on Thursday afternoon that following talks with the LPAC, the firm had concluded there would be insufficient demand from investors for the proposal on its €11.2 billion Apax Europe VII fund, according to two sources familiar with the transaction.
Apax had hired Campbell Lutyens to run a GP-led process on Apax VII, which has around €4.7 billion in net asset value across 15 portfolio companies, as Secondaries Investor reported in September.
Apax, the UK’s second-biggest private equity firm according to the PEI 300, had proposed that investors either cash out or roll over their commitments into a continuation fund with a five-year life.
The development is a blow to GP-led secondaries, which have gathered momentum in recent months. Market participants have been estimating a record year for deal volume with high quality managers including EQT, Nordic Capital and BC Partners all using the secondaries market for GP-led processes including stapled deals.
Investors in Apax VII include California State Teachers’ Retirement System, with a commitment of $526 million; Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, with C$500 million ($401 million; €338 million); and Oregon State Treasury with $199.50 million, according to PEI data.
The fund delivered a gross multiple of 1.7x and a net internal rate of return of 8.2 percent as of 30 June, according to a source familiar with the vehicle. The fund is in the first year of its extension, the source said.
Apax declined to comment. Campbell Lutyens did not return requests for comment by press time.
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