Permira sells Duff & Phelps for $4.2bn

Katharine Hidalgo
24 January 2020

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Permira has sold Duff & Phelps to private equity firms Stone Point Capital and Further Global for $4.2bn.

The firm has generated returns of almost 3x, according to press reports. This gives the deal an IRR of approximately 70%.

The company is part of the portfolio of Permira VI, which closed on €7.5bn in 2017 and has retained a significant minority stake in the company. The fund was tracking at a net IRR of 10.79% as of June 2019.

Permira acquired the company for $1.75bn in 2017, using a debt package of $1.12bn. During the holding period, Duff & Phelps issued debt of $430m in the form of a term loan B and a revolving credit facility for the acquisition of Kroll. It also refinanced with a $350m debt package in 2019.

Stone Point, which was part of a consortium that took the company private in 2013, announced the close of its eighth flagship fund on $7bn in January 2020. The firm will take the largest stake in the company. Some of Stone Point's LPs are co-investing in the transaction, as well as Duff & Phelps' management team.

Further Global is drawing equity from its debut fund, which has a target of $1.2bn. Olivier Sarkozy, who is the CEO of Further Global, led Carlyle's financial service group, which was also part of the original consortium.

New York-based Duff & Phelps is a business service that employs 3,500 people globally.

UBS, Goldman Sachs Group and Evercore provided corporate finance advice to Duff & Phelps, and Kirkland & Ellis provided legal advice. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and White & Case provided legal advice to the acquirers. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom provided legal advice to Permira.