IK hires 3i's Pete Wilson to launch UK mid-cap strategy

The GP has also promoted five new partners, who will be based across its London, Stockholm and Paris offices.

Unquote reported in December 2021 that the firm planned to set up a dedicated UK mid-cap deals team to support expansion plans after launching a UK small-cap strategy in 2020 headed by Tom Salmon. Speaking to Unquote, Wilson said: "We will be investing in growing businesses in the healthcare, business services, and consumer and industrial sectors that have enterprise values of EUR 150m-1bn."

Wilson started his career as a strategy consultant at Accenture. He was previously at 3i Group for 15 years, becoming a partner and head of UK private equity, before joining IK. Investments and portfolio companies he has been involved with include Audley Travels, SLR Consulting, Civica, Inspicio and Aspen Pumps, according to a press release. 

Wilson told Unquote: "This is a natural extension to the IK strategy. The UK is one of the biggest private equity markets in Europe and IK has a track record of 30 years, either via buy-and-build or organic growth. From an M&A perspective, we know our targets in local geographies, and as for organic growth, we work closely to help companies understand opportunities and overcome any problems."

Commenting on what separates IK from other key players in the market, Wilson pointed to the GP's local approach. "The real source of differentiation is our deep-rooted local networks in our chosen sectors, across which we have a long track record of investing, as well as an ability to help companies grow in those areas."

Wilson believes IK is also attractive to LPs because of its corporate structure. "We have a multi-strategy offering, which creates a comprehensive platform. So, for example, we are actively seeing and investing in companies that can be good bolt-on targets for our portfolio companies to help accelerate growth. We have a multi-strategy platform allowing for majority, minority and partnership equity. Our in-house operations, capital markets and ESG teams are integrated throughout the investment process, which helps support management deliver on specific projects. We have the infrastructure of a much larger company coupled with the agility and entrepreneurial spirit of a smaller one."

According to Wilson, from 1 January 2021 to present, IK has invested in 19 companies and exited 10 in total, across all strategies.

Alongside the appointment of Wilson, IK has promoted five individuals to partner across its London, Paris and Stockholm offices: Thierry Aoun, Maria Brunow, Vincent Elriz, Antoine Jacquemin and Diki Korniloff.

Thierry Aoun joined IK three years ago and is based in the London office, responsible for leading the IK Capital Markets team. During his tenure at IK, Aoun has led acquisition financings while overseeing related activities in buyouts and portfolio companies. He also manages the GP's relationships with lenders. Previously, Aoun was at KKR where he worked on private credit investments and capital markets activities. Aoun started his career at JP Morgan focusing on leveraged finance.

Maria Brunow has been with IK since 2018 and is based in Stockholm; she sits with the mid-cap investment team. Brunow focuses on portfolio investments across the Nordic region and sits on the healthcare sector team. She formerly worked at Deutsche Bank in London. Her career started at Lazard in Stockholm.

Vincent Elriz joined IK six years ago and is in the mid-cap investment team in Paris. He has experience in a range of transactions and board membership gained from his work in the business services sector team. Elriz worked at Montagu Private Equity in Paris and Blackstone in London before joining IK.

Antoine Jacquemin joined IK in 2018 and is in the operations team in Paris. His responsibilities include supporting portfolio companies and operational optimisation. Prior to joining IK, he worked at Renault and Philips, then worked at Bain & Company and as a business transformation officer in an Advent-owned business.

Diki Korniloff joined IK in 2012 as an associate and works in the Paris mid-cap investment team. She is part of the the industrial sector team and has worked on several transactions across France. Her prior experience includes working at Boston Consulting Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The GP's recent smaller fund, IK Small Cap III, held a final close on its EUR 1.2bn hard-cap in April 2021, and completed recent investments including Blanchon, Plastiflex and DA Languages, as well as Proph3cy Group and Stein HGS from the pool of Development Capital. IK's Mid Cap strategy is currently investing via IK IX, which raised EUR 2.85bn in 2020.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• People
• GPs
• UK / Ireland
• people moves
• United Kingdom
• France
• Sweden