Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) is a
private equity investment firm focusing on transactions in Australia and New Zealand. PEP invests across a range of industries and sectors and in turnaround and
growth capital transactions.
The firm is based in
Sydney, Australia, and was founded in 1998 by Rickard Gardell, Paul McCullagh, Simon Pillar and Tim Sims. All but McCullagh previously worked together as executives at
Bain & Company.
The firm has raised more than
A$8 billion across five funds since its founding and has approximately A$10 billion of assets under management, making it the largest private equity firm in Australia.
Investments
PEP has led eight public to private buyout transactions in Australasia including Spotless,
Patties, LifeHealthcare, Zenith Energy, and Citadel.
PEP has made more than 35 operating company investments as well as 100 bolt-on acquisitions since its founding. Among the firm's past investments are
Hoyts
The Hoyts Group of companies in Australia and New Zealand includes Hoyts Cinemas and Val Morgan. Hoyts operates more than 450 cinema screens and 55,000 seats, making it Australia's second largest movie exhibitor after Event Hospita ...
(sold to
Wanda Cinemas in 2015), Independent Liquor (sold to
Asahi Breweries
is a Japanese global beer, spirits, soft drinks and food business group headquartered in Sumida, Tokyo.
In 2019, the group had revenue of JPY 2.1 trillion. Asahi's business portfolio can be segmented as follows: alcoholic beverage business ...
in 2011),
Griffin's Foods (acquired from
Danone in 2006 and sold to
Universal Robina in 2014),
Frucor (sold to
Suntory in 2008),
Peters Ice Cream (sold to
Froneri in 2014) and
Tegel Foods (acquired in 2005 from
Heinz
The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contin ...
and sold to
Affinity Equity Partners in 2011).
Some of the firm's current investments include
Patties Foods, iNova Pharmaceuticals, medical devices group LifeHealthcare, smart metering company IntelliHUB, and Evolution Healthcare.
PEP made two acquisitions toward the end of 2019. It purchased the Asia-Pacific segment of
NYSE
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed co ...
-listed towing and trailering equipment manufacturer Horizon Global and it also acquired community energy network provider WINconnect
in Australian Financial Review, 19 December 2019. from private operators. WINconnect is the third deal for the firm's Secure Assets Fund.
The firm realised a positive return from the sale of New Zealand honey supplier Manuka Health which it exited in 2018 for $NZ300 million. PEP first purchased Manuka in 2015 and made key changes including expanding the company's operations and leading an industry reform to standardise honey grades, allowing better transparency on quality and reducing counterfeiting. This work gained industry recognition in 2018 for quality management and responsible investing.
Other recent investment exits include the sale of Allied Pinnacle to Japan's
Nissin Foods in February 2019 and the exit of NZ private education provider ACG
– Sale of ACG schools
''Newsroom NZ'', 23 June 2018. in late 2018.
References
External links
Company website
{{Private equity firms
Private equity firms of Australia
Financial services companies established in 1998
1998 establishments in Australia