Advent International

Advent International

Type	Private Ownership
Industry	Private Equity
Founded	1984
Headquarters	Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Products	Private equity funds, buyouts
Total assets	$31 billion
Number of employees	300+
Website	www.adventinternational.com

Advent International is an American global private equity firm focused on buyouts of companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on international buyouts, growth and strategic restructuring in five core sectors.

Since its inception in 1984, Advent has raised $31 billion (€28 billion) in private equity capital^[1] and, through its buyout programs, has completed more than 290 transactions in 40 countries.

Advent operates from 13 offices in 12 countries, with affiliates in additional countries, and employs over 180 investment professionals.

History

Advent was originally founded in Boston, Massachusetts as a spin-out from TA Associates by Peter Brooke. Brooke had founded TA Associates in 1968 after having expanded the venture capital operations of TA's parent Tucker Anthony & R.L. Day. In 1985, Advent raised its first fund – a $14 million corporate venture capital program for Nabisco. In 1987, the firm raised the $225 million International Network Fund, its first institutional private equity fund. The firm raised its first European fund in 1989, when the $231 million European Special Situations Fund and opened its London office.

Advent continued its expansion in the 1990s, opening offices in Frankfurt and Milan and merging with UK-based Trinity Capital Partners. In 1994, Advent completed fundraising for the first of its flagship series of funds, Advent Global Private Equity (GPE) II, with $415 million. In 1996, Advent expanded into Latin America raising a dedicated Advent Latin American Private Equity Fund and opening offices in Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and Sao Paulo.

Advent crossed the billion dollar mark in 1997, with the raising of the $1.2 billion Advent Global Private Equity (GPE) III, and in the last few years of the 1990s, Advent raised additional sector funds focused on media and communications as well as healthcare and life sciences. Advent's founder, Peter Brooke, stepped down as the firm's CEO in 1996, but remained active as the company's chairman.^[2]

Through the 2000s, Advent's expansion accelerated as the firm raised additional funds for its various fund families and opening new offices in Europe and Asia. Advent's sixth global private equity fund, raised in 2008 closed with €6.6 billion of investor commitments and the firm raised an additional €1 billion for investments in central Europe.^[3][4]

In March 2016, Advent raised its eighth global private equity fund with $13 billion of investor commitments.^[5]

Investments

Advent began to invest in Poland in 1995. In total, they have made 13 investments in Poland across multiple sectors, including construction materials, food and beverages, financial services, rail equipment, construction chemicals and the cable industry.^[6]

Advent acquired the British variety store chain Poundland in 2002 and has investments in the Fat Face clothing brand and extended warranty firm Domestic & General.^[7]

In 2004 Advent-owned fund Viva Ventures bought the Bulgarian state-owned telecoms monopoly Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (now Vivacom). The company was sold to AIG in 2007.

In 2005, founder of lululemon athletica Chip Wilson partnered with Advent International and Highland Capital Partners to sell a 48% minority stake in lululemon athletica.^[8]

Advent bought a majority ownership of Bradco Supply, a leading distributor of building products in 2008.^[9]

Advent has acquired a number of companies in Central and Eastern Europe through its dedicated regional funds. These include Romanian Ceramica IASI, one of Romania’s leading ceramic bricks and clay roof tiles producers, Bolix, a leading Polish producer of construction chemicals, Dufa Deutek, Romania’s largest decorative paints producer, and LaborMed Pharma, which manufactures and distributes generic pharmaceuticals primarily for cardiovascular and central nervous system aliments.^[10]

In 2007 Advent's Asia affiliate led the restructuring of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, one of China's largest privately owned shipbuilders, and successfully listed the company on the Singapore Exchange; making it one of the largest IPOs by a foreign company in Singapore.^[11]

In March 2009 Advent announced the acquisition of a controlling interest in Fifth Third Processing Solutions, the payment processing business of Fifth Third Bank in a $2.35 billion transaction. The transaction represented one of the largest private equity transactions completed in 2009 amidst the Financial crisis of 2007–2010.^[12] The deal was completed in June 2009.

In November 2009 Advent announced a public tender offer to acquire 100% of Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne S.A. (WSiP), the largest Polish educational publisher.^[13]

In April 2010, Advent took over the company DFS in the United Kingdom.^[14] In August 2010 Advent International was credited with spawning the takeover of Mexicana Airlines by an outside investor group. Advent International has no equity investment stakes in the takeover according to published sources.^[15]

In 2011 Advent acquired Mondo Minerals Holding B.V., the second largest global talc producer^[16] and British mental health care provider, Priory Group,^[17] best known for providing mental health treatments to celebrities^[18] such as Eric Clapton^[19] and Johnny Depp.^[20]

In August, 2011 Advent International acquired Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits, a regional chain of quick service restaurants based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

As of October 1, 2013 Advent International had reached agreement with Vista Equity Partners to acquire P2 Energy Solutions.

On August 7, 2014, lululemon athletica inc. and Wilson facilitated Advent's re-enengagement in lululemon by selling 13.85% ownership in the company to Advent for approximately $845 million.^[21] The transaction received the full support of the lululemon Board of Directors and changes the board dynamic. Advent Managing Partner David M. Mussafer and Managing Director Steven J. Collins will be appointed to lululemon's Board of Directors, expanding the Board from 10 to 12 members. Mr. Mussafer will now share Chairman responsibilities with Michael Casey. Lululemon will also engage an independent expert to evaluate and make recommendations regarding the lululemon Board's committees, policies and procedures over the course of 90 days following the completion of Advent's stock purchase.^[22][23]

In November 2014, Advent International announced that it had completed raising a new $2.1 billion private equity fund its Advent Latin American Private Equity Fund VI, thought to be the largest such fund ever raised for Latin America.^[24] Advent International also acquired a significant minority ownership of Noosa Yoghurt, a Bellevue-based company, for an undisclosed amount.^[25]

References

External links

• Official website

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