About the company
McGraw-Hill Education (“MHE”) is a leading global provider of education materials and learning solutions for students in the university K-12 and professional learning markets. The company’s products include print and digital textbooks, digital learning solutions, and customised education products.
Investment Rationale
- Primary buyout effects and potential cost savings, as a result of carving out MHE from McGraw-Hill Companies to form a standalone business.
- MHE had invested heavily to position itself with a competitive advantage in digital solutions, a high growth market.
- Strong free cash flow profile as the company benefited from positive working capital and modest capex requirements.
- Opportunity for consolidation with one of the other major players in the education industry, Cengage.
Our relationship
PIP is a primary investor in two Apollo Management (“Apollo”) funds and has acquired a secondary interest in an Apollo fund. In addition, PIP has participated in five co-investments alongside the manager. Pantheon also holds three advisory board seats with the manager.
Active management and value creation
- Significant further investment in digital products.
- Completion and integration of six digital-focused acquisitions.
- Turnaround of MHE’s K-12 and International businesses .
- Implementation of cost-saving actions.
Exit
MHE was acquired by Platinum Equity in August 2021, providing a full exit for Apollo and for PIP.
About the company
Sandaya is a premium outdoor leisure and hospitality group with 29 four and five-star campgrounds in France, Belgium and Spain.
Why invest
Sandaya was already a successful business when Apax Partners SA invested in the company, with full control over the value chain (land, operations, marketing). Apax Partners SA identified an opportunity to further enhance Sandaya’s operations and profitability through digitalisation, and to use Sandaya as a platform for consolidating the highly fragmented campsite market in Europe.
Our relationship
Pantheon has a long-standing relationship with Apax Partners SA dating back to the early 2000s and has completed multiple co-investments alongside the manager. Pantheon sits on the advisory boards of three Apax Partners SA funds.
Active management and value creation
Apax Partners SA monitored Sandaya for three years prior to investing in the company. Having developed a close relationship with its Founder & CEO over the years, Apax Partners SA was able to run an efficient due diligence process and submit a bid two weeks prior to the deadline.
Under Apax Partners SA ownership, the company:
- Acquired 21 additional campsites.
- Increased digital sales to 70% (vs. 30% at entry) by strengthening Sandaya’s digital marketing capabilities and the relaunch of its website.
- Increased international customer sales by 315% through distribution partnerships and branding campaigns in the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.
- Showed strong resilience during the COVID-19 crisis, significantly outperforming its peers in 2020 with a limited 10% decrease in like-for-like revenues (vs. 20% for the sector).
Exit
Sandaya was acquired by InfraVia Capital Partners in March 2021.
About the company
Signature Foods (formerly Salad Signature) is a leading branded and private label food franchise offering chilled and packaged spreads, dips, bites, tapas, and ready meal solutions. The company has a strong presence in the Benelux region and a rapidly growing European footprint across Poland, France, the UK, Germany and the Nordics. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Signature Foods employs over 600 people across seven manufacturing sites in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Poland.
Why invest
As the leading branded staple food provider in the Benelux region, Signature Foods was well positioned to tap into the growing addressable market for dips and salads. Together, the management of Signature Foods and IK Investment Partners (“IK”), identified a number of near-term acquisitions opportunities to expand Signature Foods’ product offering and generate operational synergies.
Our relationship
Pantheon has an established relationship with IK, dating back to the early 2000s. Pantheon is a primary investor in eight IK funds and has also acquired secondary interests in several IK funds. In addition, Pantheon has participated in a number of co-investments alongside the manager. Pantheon is an Advisory Board member in six IK funds.
Active management and value creation
During IK’s ownership, Signature Foods doubled in size on the back of robust organic growth and a dynamic buy-and-build strategy. IK, together with the management team, developed the company through the following value creation initiatives:
- Expanded into adjacent product categories by capitalising on the strength of its branded and private label products in order to continue the company’s successful track record of above-market organic growth.
- Completed four add-on acquisitions to gain access to the faster growing dips and bites market in the Benelux region and to create a footprint in the attractive Polish market.
- Achieved cost savings, following investment programmes at two major production sites.
Exit
Signature Foods was acquired by Pamplona Capital Management in December 2020.
About the company
ZeniMax is a leading independent developer, publisher and distributor of video games and other interactive content for consoles, personal computers, handheld and mobile devices.
Why invest
- High growth market driven by technological proliferation and increased consumer spending on gaming products.
- Existing portfolio of critically acclaimed, commercially successful gaming franchises.
- Experienced and innovative team with a long history of creating and selling premium video game titles to a worldwide market.
- Acquisition platform to consolidate a fragmented market.
About the company
Galileo is the largest private, for-profit tertiary education group in Europe, with 100,000 students across 88 campuses in 13 different countries.
Why invest
- Growing demand for higher education and continued migration from public to private sector institutions.
- High quality platform underpinned by accreditations, well-reputed brands and good employability outcomes.
- Resilient business model characterised by low capex and stable revenue driven by multi-year courses.
- Opportunity to execute on a buy-and-build strategy in the fragmented higher education sector.
About the company
Allegro is Poland’s largest online marketplace, with over 20 million registered users, allowing businesses and individuals to sell their products to consumers.
As the preferred online shopping destination for Polish customers, Allegro benefits from an iconic brand with exceptional user engagement metrics.
Allegro.pl is one of the world’s top ten e-commerce websites, attracting 12.6m customers.
The Allegro marketplace provides customers with advanced search functionality, safe payment transfer and financing solutions, a buyer protection programme and a managed delivery experience, while providing merchants with data tools and the ability to promote and advertise offers.
The investment rationale
As the e-commerce leader in Poland, Allegro is well-positioned to continue to benefit from the shift from offline to online shopping, which is underpenetrated relative to many other countries globally.
Over the course of their ownership, Mid-Europa, in collaboration with Cinven and Permira, has supported the management of Allegro’s key strategic initiatives of expanding product breadth, optimising merchant processes and innovating the technology platform.
Allegro was listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange on 12 October 2020, priced at PLN43 per share. PIP continues to be invested in the company.
Our relationship
Pantheon is a primary investor in all three of the financial sponsors that backed this business.
In 2017, PIP co-invested £3.0m (€3.5m) in Allegro. PIP has also participated in three other co-investments alongside Mid Europa.
About the company
Colisée is a leading European operator of nursing home facilities and home care services agencies for the elderly.
The company, with its network of 16,000 care providers and more than 270 facilities in France, Belgium, Spain and Italy, has developed a strong expertise in the care and wellbeing of elderly people.
The investment rationale
Colisée is well-positioned to benefit from strong secular trends, such as an ageing European population and an increasing shift towards privately managed elderly care.
Led by a highly experienced management team, Colisée is a consolidator in a fragmented market, acquiring small to medium sized nursing home operators in its core geographies.
Recognised for its strong operations, Colisée has a high focus on the quality of care provided to its residents.
Colisée was acquired by EQT Infrastructure and CDPQ Infrastructure in November 2020.
Our relationship
Pantheon has a longstanding relationship with IK Investment Partners (“IK”), with fund investments dating back to 1999. In addition to Colisée, PIP has participated in several other co-investments alongside IK.
About the company
Recorded Books is the largest independent acquirer of spoken audio content, selling audiobooks, educational courses and entertainment titles to both public libraries and retail channels.
By co-investing alongside Shamrock Capital Advisors, PIP was able to capitalise on the large and fast-growing audiobook market.
About the company
Deutsche Fachpflege Gruppe (“DFG”) is the leader in non-clinical intensive care in Germany, providing patients with 24-hour care and ventilation support in their own homes or in specialist shared accommodations.
PIP invested as part of a commitment to Chequers Capital XVI. Since its initial investment in 2013, Chequers has played a prominent role in supporting growth and service improvement initiatives in the business, further strengthening DFG’s ability to provide individualised care and improve the quality of life of its patients.