SLEPET acquires TowerBrook IV stake

The listed arm of SL Capital Partners acquired three stakes in the six months to March.

Standard Life Private Equity Trust (SLEPET), the listed fund of funds arm of SL Capital Partners, made three secondaries purchases in the six months to March 2017.

The latest is $1.6 million piece of TowerBrook Investors IV, managed by New York-headquartered private equity firm TowerBrook Capital Partners, according to an interim results statement.

TowerBrook IV is a $3.5 billion fund which closed above its $3 billion target in February 2013 after five months of fundraising, according to PEI data. TowerBrook is particularly interested in “situations characterised by complexity”, such as “management/shareholder dislocation, a distressed parent company or an out-of-favour industry”, according to its website.

Assets in the fund include Maison Bleue, a France-headquartered day-care provider, which was bought by its management team in a move backed by TowerBrook and Bpifrance in 2016. The fund also holds stakes in ice hockey team the St Louis Blues and clothing line True Religion.

SLEPET’s other purchases during the period were a €20 million stake in the €4.3 billion, 2008-vintage Nordic Capital VII, and a $3.1 million stake in TowerBrook Investors III, as Secondaries Investor previously reported.

SLEPET’s portfolio comprises 49 private equity fund interests valued at £470.2 million ($595 million; €534 million). It had total outstanding commitments of £312.2 million as of the end of the first quarter, compared with £305.9 million at the end of the 2016 fiscal year.

SLEPET’s net asset value increased by 6.5 percent in the six months to 31 March, hitting 7.4 percent. Its share price rose by almost 15 percent over the period.