Deal Talk: Interviews with Private Equity Leaders

Søren Vestergaard-Poulsen was the guest of our 12th edition of the Deal Talk series, in which Moonfare’s CEO and founder, Steffen Pauls, talks to some of the world’s most prominent names in private equity dealmaking. Søren, who joined CVC in 1998, is a managing partner and co-chairs CVC's private equity board and oversees private equity activities in Greece and the Nordics. He plays a pivotal role in managing a firm with 25 local offices and €161 billion of assets under management. In their conversation, Steffen and Søren discussed a wide range of topics, from CVC’s approach to sustainability to its distinct organisational culture. Here are some of the highlights: CVC’s investment playbook“We’re trying to find investments that are robust and where we have a clear value creation program to make these businesses better. If we can do that, we’re more than likely to make a good investment.” The superiority of the PE ownership model“The alignment of interest with management, the long-term approach to value creation, and the drive from the board level to create value are much better in private equity than in any other ownership model. Compared to when I joined, not much has changed either. It continues to be a superior ownership model and will stay that way in the years to come.” Immediate outlook“I think we’ll see a pick-up in 2024. We are already seeing the divergence in price expectations between buyers and sellers narrowing. And in terms of financing, banks are coming back to the market. We’re starting to see improvements.” What you need for success in private equity“It comes down to whether managers making investments know what they’re doing. If you are a sector fund, you need deep expertise in the sector. If you are a generalist fund, you need to be able to source the right deals and generate the value creation plan again and again.” Important Notice: This content is for informational purposes only. Moonfare does not provide investment advice. You should not construe any information or other material provided as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. If you are unsure about anything, you should seek financial advice from an authorised advisor. Opinions in this interview are not Moonfare's and Moonfare do not take responsibility for this. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. Your capital is at risk.

Dipanjan ‘DJ’ Deb, Co-Founder and CEO at Francisco Partners, joined Moonfare’s Co-CEO, Lorenz Jüngling, for the latest episode of the Deal Talk series — our regular fireside chats with leading global private equity dealmakers. Based in San Francisco, Dipanjan ‘DJ’ Deb leads one of the most active and largest technology-focused investment firms in the world. To date, Francisco Partners has invested in or acquired over 400 technology companies. In a conversation with Jüngling, ‘DJ’ Deb discussed lessons learned as a top dealmaker, provided his insights on technology investing and offered advice for first-time investors in private equity. ‍Complexity arbitrage: “Our strategy is straightforward — it's complexity arbitrage. We buy confusion, hopefully at a discount, and sell clarity, hopefully at a premium. This involves acquiring solid technology companies with strong customer bases that are not yet optimised. A common scenario in technology is companies losing focus on their core strengths and pursuing growth at any cost. We try to arbitrage this.” On technology: “People always ask me if they have too much exposure to technology. And I tell them they don’t have enough exposure. Tech is horizontal, whether it’s in the government space, aerospace, fintech, healthtech or consumer, tech is pervasive and will displace anything that was done by hand before.”  Investing in private equity: “If you're going to invest in private equity make sure to take a long term view and don’t panic. The worst people can do is invest money at the top and take it out when things hit the bottom. There will be fits and starts along the way but I think equities are still the best asset class  long term and I think technology is the best asset class within equity.” Important notice: This content is for informational purposes only. The opinions expressed by the interviewee are their own. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Moonfare. Moonfare does not provide investment advice. You should not construe any information or other material provided as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. If you are unsure about anything, you should seek financial advice from an authorised advisor. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. Private equity is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Subject to eligibility. Please see https://www.moonfare.com/disclaimers.

Moonfare’s founder and CEO, Steffen Pauls, hosted Henry Kravis, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Chairman of KKR and one of the most influential people in the private equity industry. Kravis talked about the power of curiosity, showing courage in the face of uncertainty, lessons learned from past crises, his views on investing in the current economic climate and much more.

How has Motive’s founding partner managed the transition from blockchain entrepreneur to signing off equity cheques for fintech investments? And what impact does she think high interest rates and trends such as AI will have on the space? Subject to eligibility, capital at risk.

In the wake of SVB’s sudden fall, how does Carlyle’s Head of Global Research assess its impact on the private equity industry? What is the focus now for companies in an environment of rising rates, and what opportunities could this create for patient investors? Subject to eligibility, capital at risk.

How does data analytics impact the Insight Partners’ managing director’s decision-making process, and in his eyes, what makes for a good entrepreneur? This episode was recorded on 9 November 2022. Subject to eligibility, capital at risk.

What does the Hg CEO think is the key function when it comes to tech investing? What does he make of the current macro environment? And how can outside parties evaluate PE funds? This episode was recorded on October 21, 2022. Subject to eligibility, capital at risk.

Why does the Co-Founder of General Catalyst think his firm’s scale will help it during the tough VC market? And why is sticking with companies for longer vital when it comes to value creation? This episode was recorded on 29 September 2022. Subject to eligibility, capital at risk.

Why is the Khosla Ventures founder unphased by taking on a larger probability of failure with some of his investments? And what are the ‘unfair advantages’ he seeks out in potential portfolio companies? This episode was recorded on 15 September 2021. Subject to eligibility, capital at risk.

Why does Permira’s managing partner think private markets investors need to shift from risk-aversion behaviour to an upside-optionality mindset? And how does the private company governance model hold the edge over public ones when it comes to value creation? This episode was recorded on 18 May 2021. Subject to eligibility, capital at risk.