Quilvest & Partners raises $1.3 billion in 2013

Quilvest & Partners, the global private equity investor, raised $1.3 billion in 2013, surpassing a $500 million target by 150%. This record was partly driven by three new mandates of which two are with leading global sovereign wealth and pension funds. As of December 31^st 2013, Quilvest & Partners assets under management are above $5 billion. All new QS Companies and QS Properties investments in 2013 were oversubscribed. 8 portfolio companies were fully or partially realized.

Quilvest & Partners raised over $125 million in 2013 for its upcoming private equity investment in the Middle East in 2014. This will be the company’s inaugural investment in the region, which will be used to create a newly formed Group chaired by CEO Fady Michel Abouchalache. This Middle East Group is expected to become a $1 billion sales company with more than 300 points of sale over 10 years.

Fady Michel Abouchalache, CEO of Quilvest Group and Quilvest & Partners noted: “2013 was a stellar fundraising year for Quilvest & Partners. This is a tribute to our esteemed investors and our value proposition. Such mandates allow us to increase our annual dry powder while staying true to our investment strategy of focusing on the small and mid-cap space.”

“Amongst our diverse investor base, the Middle East is fast growing in terms of capital raisings as local investors become more sophisticated and develop an increasingly global perspective. Consequently, the Middle East itself offers real opportunities for private equity, with the region’s favourable macro fundamentals. This capital raising of over $125 million in 2013 for our upcoming Middle East investment, has clearly demonstrated the region’s huge potential for inward investments which is buying into the larger growth story.”

Across its global private equity investment platform, Quilvest & Partners committed more than $700 million with a roughly 50/50 split between new direct and indirect investments.

Nearly $350 million was committed to Quilvest & Partners’ direct investment programmes in 2013:

- QS Companies, which invests directly in companies globally on a deal-by-deal basis, completed 5 investments totalling $210 million.

- QS Properties, which targets direct investments in real estate, completed 4 investments for $81 million

- QS Direct, a direct fund investing equity tickets of $6 million and less per deal, invested $34 million in total, completing 8 new investments in the US, Europe, and Latin America

- QS Capital Strategies fund, which is awaiting the license from the SBA as a Small Business Investment Company, made its inaugural investment in a small cap U.S.-based company

Quilvest & Partners’ fund of funds platform (QS PEP Core, QS GEO 2 and QS REP 2) was also very active in 2013, committing over $350 million to 30 managers globally. QS PEP notably had a record distribution year in 2013. All 16 Quilvest & Partners funds of funds are expected to yield a positive net IRR and 14 of those are expected to be comfortably in the double digit net IRR territory.

Fady Michel Abouchalache concluded: “Our increasing global presence and weight, coupled with our opportunistic approach in the small and mid cap space are the key drivers of our top quartile performance.”

“As a global private equity player, the Middle East is a priority for us and we are deeply committed to the region and our investors. We have been very active for a number of years, and we look forward to further building our business in the region.”

Quilvest Group and Quilvest & Partners CEO Fady Michel Abouchalache is one of the world’s most prominent finance and private equity investment professionals of Middle East origin.  In 2013, Fady Michel Abouchalache was included in the ‘Top 100 Powerful Arab’ list, which is intended to be an inspirational representation of some of the Arab world’s greatest achievers and future makers.