News & Analysis

Strategic Partners buys another stake in BC Partners

Blackstone's secondaries arm has bought at least two stakes in tail-end BC Partners funds this year.

-

Strategic Partners has picked up another stake in a BC Partners buyout fund, according to a UK regulatory filing.

The private equity secondaries arm of Blackstone bought an interest in BC European Capital VII-1 from Wilshire Private Markets Group, a global advisory and investment management firm. BC European Capital VII-1 is a 2000-vintage fund that closed on €4.27 billion and was, at the time, one of the largest European buyout funds when it was raised. Strategic Partners made the deal through Strategic Partners VI Acquisitions M, according to the filing.

Wilshire held the fund interest through Wilshire Private Markets Fund III, a $250 million fund of funds and co-investments vehicle that made its first investment in 2000, according to PEI’s Research and Analytics division.

It wasn’t clear from the filing how much Strategic Partners paid for the stake, or when the deal was completed.

Strategic Partners Fund VI is a dedicated secondaries fund that smashed its $3.5 billion target, closing on $4.4 billion in 2014, according to PEI data.

BC European Capital VII focuses on investments in France, Switzerland and the UK. The fund had a net internal rate of return (IRR) of 23.8 percent and a return multiple of 2.5x as of 30 September last year, according to an investment document by the Washington State Investment Board.

BC Partners VII made a number of large investments including in Sanitec, a leading pan-European multi-brand bathroom ceramics maker, which it sold to Swedish private equity firm EQT in 2005. In July, the firm announced it had acquired a majority stake in Côte Restaurants, a UK dining chain, reportedly through its BC European Capital IX fund.

In May, Strategic Partners teamed up with Adams Street Partners to buy $109 million worth of commitments to a transport-focused fund from Transportation Resource Partners, Secondaries Investor reported on Wednesday.

Strategic Partners declined to comment on the deal. BC Partners and Wilshire weren’t immediately available to comment.