UK private equity's 2012 highlights

John Bakie
03 January 2013

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The UK has reasserted its dominance in European private equity this year, seeing off any challenge from France or Germany. Thatтs not to say, however, that it hasnтt been a year of ups and downs.

Despite slowing dealflow, it has still been a busy twelve months. Here's unquote's top five UK private equity happenings of 2012.

Annington Homes Buyout - The biggest buyout in the UK this year was also the biggest buyout in Europe, coming in at a massive £3.2bn. The deal added a big chunk of the UK's £10bn worth of mega-buyouts in 2010, a market segment that is now at its largest since the financial crisis of 2008-2009. The deal should also help Terra Firma bury the ghosts of the past, with good cash generation and a significant book of assets making it a safe bet after the sore loss of EMI.

ISIS - For the first time ever this year, one firm took home three unquote" British Private Equity Awards; that firm was ISIS Equity Partners. The house won fund of the year for ISIS V, small buyout exit of the year for its return on Wiggle and topped it all off by winning small buyout house of year.

Since the end of the awards judging period the firm has also made a further three investments. We expect this extremely active UK player to continue its investment pace next year.

Advent International GPE VII - Advent's impressive fundraising saw a positive end to the year and proved larger buyout specialists remain popular. Raising a huge €8.5bn for its London-domiciled Fund VII in less than nine months is an impressive feat. The fund was popular with Advent's existing investors and was oversubscribed, proving a manager with a good track record and the right strategy can raise despite the difficult economic situation.

LDC - Lloyds' mid-market private equity arm has once again been the most active UK investor this year. The private equity investor made a whopping 19 investments in 2012, across sectors as diverse as chemicals producers, telecoms specialists and hotel accommodation. LDC has been extremely consistent, investing throughout the recession and is no stranger to being the UK's most active private equity investor. That LDC has kept on investing despite the difficulties experienced by its parent in the wake of its HBOS acquisition during 2009, indicates a strong commitment to UK medium-sized businesses.

Misys buyout - One of the most talked about deals of the past year, Misys was eventually bought by Vista Equity Partners after an exceptionally hard-fought battle with rival CVC. The £1.27bn deal for the banking and investment software business was agreed in March 2012. Vista was keen to acquire the business so it could merge it with fellow software company Turaz, formerly a division of Thomson Reuters. Both IT-based business support services and financial services have been popular sectors over the past year, and both Misys and Turaz straddle these markets.