Private Equity Deals with Capital Allocators

When you think of the greatest private equity deals of all time, names like Google, Facebook, Uber, Dell, and Hilton come to mind. After a recent episode of Private Equity Deals, you might also think about 3G’s acquisition of Burger King.

But I’d bet you wouldn’t think about an oil and gas play called CrownRock. Lime Rock Capital created CrownRock alongside a management team with $96.5 million of cash and assets in 2007. Seventeen years later, sold the business to Occidental Petroleum for $12.5 billion.

Lime Rock’s original investment made 79x its money, a net IRR of 18%, and $7.5 billion in gains, which ranks in the top ten fully exited private equity deals of all time. It also exited a continuation vehicle that generated 3x its cost over the last six years of the deal’s life.

My guests to discuss the firm and its grand slam CrownRock deal are Lime Rock Managing Directors John Reynolds, Jonathan Farber, and J McLane.

Our conversation covers Lime Rock’s investment approach and the example of CrownRock. We dive into the initial investment thesis around vertical drilling, the three extinction threats to the business, innovation of horizontal drilling, management excellence, exit options along the way, and the ‘forever hold’ mindset that allowed CrownRock to compound extraordinary amounts of capital.

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Consolidation in asset management is one of the industry's most important trends. When any industry enters a mature phase, consolidation brings the benefits of economies of scale, product depth, and broader services to meet client demands. We’ve seen a rising tide of merger activity in recent years, effecting both asset managers and allocators alike.

My guests on today’s show are leaders of two organizations that announced mergers in October – Simon Krinsky, a Managing Partner at Hall Capital and Tim McCusker, CIO at NEPC. Hall announced a merger with Pathstone, adding its $45 billion in assets to Pathstone’s $100 billion. NEPC announced a sale of a majority stake in its firm to Hightower Holdings, adding NEPC’s $1.8 trillion of assets under advisement to Hightower’s $130 billion of assets under management. Both Hall and NEPC have been longstanding independent organizations that are selling to a partner backed by private equity owners.

Simon and Tim walk through their rationale for the transactions, deal process from idea to signing, and opportunities and challenges going forward. The organizations share similarities in their long independent history, broad equity ownership, and investment capability, while also having significant differences in their new partners, incentive structure, and plan to service clients. Together, Simon and Tim offer an inside look at dealmaking in asset management.

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3G Capital’s buyout of Burger King may be the most successful private equity deal you’ve never heard about. Over the last fourteen years, or the length of a typical private equity fund, 3G turned a $1 billion investment into $28 billion in value. The annual dividends from the investment accruing to 3G today are around 70% of its invested capital. The deal is one of the highest earning buyouts ever.

3G is an organization with a storied history. Founded by Jorge Paolo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira, and Marcel Herrmann Telles, the group created an owner-operator model of investing. They rose to prominence through building the largest beer company in the world, initially buying local brewer Brahma in 1989, expanding it and merging with a competitor to become AmBev in 1999, merging with Interbrew to become ImBev in 2004, and taking over Anheuser Busch in 2008 to become AB InBev.

Twenty years ago, Alex Behring, a young star on their team, moved to the US to form 3G Capital and take the approach abroad.

Burger King was the second largest hamburger fast food chain after McDonalds in 2010 when 3G took it private. What it accomplished since then has been extraordinary.

My guests to discuss 3G and the deal are Alex Behring and Daniel Schwartz. Co-Managing Partners of 3G Capital.

Our conversation covers the history of 3G, Alex's journey to form 3G Capital, and the 3G playbook. We then dive into the deal, covering the sourcing and deal dynamics, improving operations, growing the business, taking the company public unexpectedly, and reloading to buy Tim Horton’s, Popeye’s, and Firehouse Subs. Today’s Burger King is part of Restaurant Brands International (QSR), a public company with a $32 billion market cap and $50 billion enterprise value.

This classic deal will widen your aperture on what’s possible with a long-term, compounding holding period and operational excellence.

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This Sponsored Insight features Ben Harrison, Founder and Co-President of DealCloud, our sponsor for Season 3 of Private Equity Deals.

Ben discusses how DealCloud’s vertical software supports alternative investment professionals through deal sourcing, relationship and pipeline management, and workflow efficiencies.

We are incredibly grateful of DealCloud for sponsoring Private Equity Deals, and we are eager to highlight their value to the alternative investment community.

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On episode eight of season three of Private Equity Deals, Chris and Rob Michalik discuss Kinderhook Industries’ investment in Ironclad Environmental Services.

Chris and Rob are twin brothers and co-founders of Kinderhook, a twenty-year-old private equity firm that manages $5 billion specializing in middle-market businesses across healthcare services, environmental services, and automotive/light manufacturing.

Ironclad Environmental Services is a leading provider of logistics-based solutions focused on the containment of industrial waste. It has 50 branches and a fleet of 29,000 specialized rental assets that store, separate, and transport liquid and solid industrial waste.

Our conversation covers Kinderhook’s identification, due diligence, and negotiation of the deal. We discuss a significant early add-on acquisition, progress-to-date, and the future of Ironclad.

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Henk Hartong III is the Chairman and CEO of Brynwood Partners, a middle-market private equity firm that invests in U.S. consumer-oriented businesses, primarily in the food, beverage, and personal care sectors. Henk’s father established Brynwood in 1984, and the firm boasts an impressive forty-year track record of driving results through its hands-on operating expertise.

Hometown Food Company is a manufacturer and marketer of an iconic portfolio of American baking brands that includes Pillsbury, Funfetti, Hungry Jack, Martha White, White Lily, Jim Dandy, Arrowhead Mills, Sunspire, De Wafelbakkers, and Birch Benders.

Our conversation covers the creation of Hometown in 2018 through a carve-out from Smuckers, buildout of a new management team, systems, and supply chain, management of the business through the COVID pandemic, tuck-in acquisitions, and the resulting performance of the company.

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Rich Caputo is the Chairman and Chief Executive Partner and Erik Fagan the Co-Head of Diversified Industrials at The Jordan Company, a private equity firm founded in 1982 by Jay Jordan that manages $23 billion.

Silvus develops and manufactures mobile communications datalinks primarily used in law enforcement, unmanned systems, tactical, and other applications to facilitate data communication in harsh environments without needing fixed infrastructure.

Our conversation covers the sourcing, diligence, purchase of Silvus, work with the management team, special characteristics of culture, and lessons learned.

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Ignacio Jayanti is the CEO of Corsair, a $10 billion specialist in financial services and infrastructure investing that started as a private equity practice within JP Morgan three decades ago.

TreviPay is a global payments and invoicing network that enables businesses to transact in a reliable way with other businesses.

Our conversation covers Corsair’s target companies, sourcing of TreviPay inside World Fuel Services, diligence process, exclusivity period, valuation, and risk assessment. We then turn to post-close operations, including building and onboarding a team alongside the existing superstar CEO, managing the balance sheet, transitioning from the former parent, and the early performance and challenges of the deal.

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David Perez is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Avance Investment Management, a middle-market private equity firm focusing on U.S. services and consumer businesses that he launched with a billion-dollar first time fund after spinning out of Palladium Equity Partners in 2020.

Univista Insurance is a South Florida-based insurance agency offering auto, home, life, health, and commercial policies primarily to the Hispanic community that was founded and run by Cuban immigrants in 2006.

Our conversation covers Univista’s history and business, sourcing of the deal, opportunities and risks, and deal process. We discuss valuation and financing, drivers of the business post-acquisition, and exit strategy down the road.

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Michael Fisch is the founder and CEO of American Securities, a private equity firm founded in 1994 that manages $27 billion focusing on U.S. middle market companies.

Milk Specialties is a producer of dairy products for the health and wellness, sports, and functional food industries. With roots dating back to 1944, the company focuses on Whey products and ingredients that end up in recognizable brands.

Our conversation covers American Securities approach to investing, Milk Specialties market niche, and the diligence and deal process. We turn to the gameplan for the business alongside existing management, growth drivers, and risk mitigation. We then go full circle discussing the sale process to exit the investment, covering the timing, auction, and case against continuation funds.

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