Alternatives specialist Stafford buys Robeco’s $1.5bn PE business

August 2020 | DEALFRONT | PRIVATE EQUITY & VENTURE CAPITAL

Financier Worldwide Magazine

August 2020 Issue

Stafford Capital Partners has bought the private equity business of Dutch asset manager Robeco for $1.5bn. The deal will add to Stafford’s growing operations in Europe.

The combined private equity business will represent $3.1bn of assets under management (AUM). As part of the deal, Stafford will absorb 11 Robeco employees, who will be based at a Rotterdam office Stafford plans to launch shortly.

“Robeco’s private equity business is a perfect fit with our own – we have known the team for many years, it has a strong focus on sustainable investing and ESG integration as do we, and with the European coverage we now have deep, local expertise across the key geographies for private equity investing,” said Rick Fratus, managing partner of Stafford Private Equity. “We firmly believe that this acquisition enhances the service and offering not only to our own clients, but also to those transitioning from Robeco.”

The Robeco private equity team will continue to invest in European small and mid-market private equity, through the launch of a new fund – Stafford European Private Equity Fund VI (SEPEF VI). SEPEF VI is targeting €250m and can invest up to 50 percent in secondaries and co-investments.

The transaction is in line with Robeco’s strategic focus on capabilities where it can continue to create the most added value for its clients. At the same time, the transaction will enable the private equity team to continue providing clients with the same level of service while allowing the team to pursue its growth ambitions.

The European team of Robeco is said to complement Stafford Private Equity’s US and Australia capabilities. Stafford noted: “The new fund continues the long and successful track record built up by the team during the past two decades. It also benefits from Stafford’s deep secondaries and co-investment expertise as it increases its allocation to secondary investments and co-investments in time to take advantage of the current market dislocation.”

Robeco has around €173bn in AUM across a range of public and private strategies, according to data from Private Equity International. The firm employs 873 people across 17 offices worldwide. At the end of 2019, Robeco announced the sale of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings business of its affiliate RobecoSAM to S&P Global.

Stafford Capital Partners is a leading private markets investment and advisory group with a global presence and capital allocations from over 140 institutional investors across Asia-Pacific, Europe and the US. The firm has $5.3bn in primary, secondaries and co-investment assets across private equity, private credit, infrastructure, agriculture and timberland.

The team consists of over 70 professionals investing from offices in Austin, Boston, Curitiba, London, Rotterdam, Seoul, Sydney and Zurich. Stafford Capital Partners is a member of the Principles for Responsible Investment. The firm is a blend of Stafford Capital Partners Limited (formerly Stafford Timberland) and Stafford Private Equity (formerly Quay Partners).

Richard Summerfield