Stanhope Capital is to launch a new EUR100 million investment platform – the Stanhope Entrepreneurs Fund (SEF).
The fund aims at filling two major gaps. Firstly, the SEF will seek to add true operational expertise to portfolio companies by relying on successful entrepreneurs who will act as “Anchor Investors” to the Fund and when required, active non-executive members of the boards of the portfolio companies. Secondly, the SEF will act as a forum enabling investors to have a say in the selection of portfolio companies and incentivise them to bring attractive deals to the Fund. Overall, the aim is to create a community of like-minded investors, who have a common willingness and skills to back entrepreneurial and growing businesses.
The fund, which will pursue development capital and buyout deals, will provide investors access to fast growing and established entrepreneurial small to medium sized enterprises (‘SMEs’) across Europe and the UK. The Fund will focus on four key sectors – Consumer, Food, Education and Disruptive Services – and will do both majority transactions as well as minority transactions.
The Fund is backed by five Anchor Investors, all of whom are highly successful entrepreneurs in their own right, who will contribute their expertise, network and experience in identifying attractive investment opportunities and helping companies grow.
Bruno Moineville was a Founding Partner in 2001 of global telecoms specialist Altice. Moineville led the high growth of the group from its origin as a cable operator in 2001, though a global market consolidation, backed by leading private equity firms. Altice was listed on Euronext in 2014.
Pierre Cuillere co-founded The Phone House in 1996, France’s leading mobile phone retailer, which he sold to The Carphone Warehouse in 2000. In 2005, he became the CEO of Micromania the leading French video game retailer, where he co-invested with L Capital, a leading private equity fund. After selling Micromania to GameStop in 2008, he remained CEO until 2014.
Leon Seynave was a co-founder of Mitiska, formerly a listed holding with stakes in several retail companies such as Carpetland, Brantano, AS adventure and Fun. He is the co-founder of Vente-Exclusive.com, the leading online private sales player in Belgium.
Mark Moran was CEO and led the management buyout of Mater Private Hospital, driving a period of rapid growth and positioning it to become Ireland’s leading private hospital, which he then sold to private equity. Moran previously had senior roles in the pharmaceutical and financial services industries. Moran currently holds a number of non-executive positions at in the healthcare and hospitality space.
Daniel Pinto is Chief Executive and Founding Partner of Stanhope Capital, the global investment office with approximately USD 10 billion under supervision. Formerly Senior Banker at UBS Warburg in London and Paris, and Chief Executive of a private equity fund backed by CVC.
This initiative is launched on the back of the successful creation of an Access Vehicle programme, enabling clients to access top performing private equity firms, that have high minimum subscriptions and that are focused on large transactions. Comparatively, the Stanhope Entrepreneurs Fund will focus on smaller transactions, providing investors access to growing entrepreneurial businesses in Continental Europe and in the UK.
The Fund will be managed by Stanhope Capital’s private equity team, in collaboration with Anchor Investors. The Stanhope Capital team and the Anchor Investors will be responsible for sourcing transactions, managing the portfolio, and existing investments.
Pinto says: “As part of our continued drive to provide a full range of wealth management services covering all the major asset classes, the Stanhope Entrepreneurs Fund is a logical extension of Stanhope Capital’s offering.
“The in-house private equity team is led by Jerome Sibony and Michael Bressler, two highly successful professionals whose long-standing experience in private equity will be very complementary with the entrepreneurial pedigree of the Anchor Investors.
“Our team of private equity experts, together with the dream team of Anchor Investors will allow us to find companies with the strongest potential to deliver long-term returns on behalf of our investors. We are delighted to bring this strategy to a wider audience.”
