Bain gears up for sixth European buyout fund

Harriet Matthews
18 November 2021

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Bain Capital has registered its sixth European buyout fund, Bain Capital Europe VI, according to a regulatory filing.

Bain Capital Europe VI General Partner is domiciled in Luxembourg.

The GP held a final close for Bain Capital Europe V in July 2018 on EUR 4.35bn, surpassing its EUR 3.5bn target. Its predecessor vehicle held a final close in October 2014 on EUR 3.5bn.

LPs in Bain Capital Europe V include Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), fund-of-funds manager Liqid Asset Management, and the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, according to Unquote Data.

Bain's European strategy targets upper-mid-market and large-cap European buyouts. The GP established a presence in Europe in 2000 via the opening of its London office. The firm now has additional European offices in Lisbon, Dublin, Munich, Luxembourg and Madrid.

Bain's recent investments in Europe include e-commerce direct-to-consumer brands company Berlin Brands Group (formerly known as Chal-Tec); the GP invested EUR 595m in the company, acquiring a minority stake from Ardian and investing a mixture of equity and unitranche financing. The deal valued the company at more than USD 1bn. Ardian provided additional growth capital for the company earlier in November 2021, with Handelsblatt reporting that the firm had provided a sum in the USD 100m region.

Later in September 2021, Bain led a consortium in the EUR 1.7bn acquisition of ITP Aero from Rolls Royce. Sapa Placencia and JB Capital invested alongside Bain, but the consortium remains open to additional Spanish and Basque industrial partners wishing to join it until the end of June 2022, according to a statement issued at the time.

The GP is reportedly close to acquiring UK-headquartered insurance and pensions company LV (London Victoria) in a GBP 530m deal. However, a dispute with fellow bidder Royal London, as well as criticism of the deal from several UK politicians, have drawn media attention to the process, with member-customers set to vote on the deal on 10 December 2021.

Further US-headquartered GPs that are raising the latest vintage of their dedicated European vehicles include KKR, which registered KKR European Fund VI in May 2021; and Carlyle, which registered Carlyle Europe Technology Partners V in October 2021, as reported, three years after the launch of its predecessor vehicle.

Carlyle's latest Carlyle Europe Partners fund, which targets Europe-based upper-mid-market companies in a range of sectors, held a final close in October 2019 on EUR 6.4bn.

Bain had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.