QIC’s PE team wins $500m mandate for European buyouts

afr.com:

Queensland-headquartered private markets investor QIC should have its eye (and chequebook) out for mid-market European buyouts in the coming years as it adds a new client to its books.

PenSam head of private capital and real assets Jeppe Starup (left) and QIC private equity partner and head of Europe Rune Jepsen.  

Danish pension fund PenSam has signed an agreement to invest $500 million in the sector via QIC over the next three years, as the start of what both sides hope will be a long-term relationship. The mandate covers both co-investments and fund commitments.

QIC would hunt for opportunities in lower middle market buyouts, typically businesses with enterprise valuation between €100 million ($169 million) to €1 billion. PenSam’s head of private capital and real assets, Jeppe Starup, led the charge for the pension fund, while QIC had its head of Europe Rune Jepsen front and centre.

“As a long-term investor in the lower mid-market, QIC has seen a shifting landscape where traditional peer investors have migrated out of this part of the market for various reasons,” Jepsen said. “In this context, both QIC and PenSam see a compelling opportunity in the current market, and view this as an opportune moment to launch what is expected to be a long-term strategic partnership.”

QIC is best known as an infrastructure player, with recent bets including Vector Metering and Healius’ day hospitals. It’s an investor in several big assets such as Brisbane Airport, Port of Melbourne (and the Brisbane equivalent), Brussels Airport, Tilt Renewables and Thames Water.

But it has been building a smaller private equity business on the side. Its private equity unit looks after $8.6 billion in assets. Of this about $1.5 billion was with the