In this article, we will be taking a look at the 30 biggest private equity companies by AUM.
While the private equity industry is not the biggest part of the global investment sector, it is still very important, as money is raised by private equity firms to invest, as the name suggests, in private businesses and then sell ownership after some time, reaping potentially much higher returns than afforded by public companies. Since the general public typically can’t invest in private businesses, the money raised by private equity firms is from institutional investors such as insurance companies, funds, sovereign wealth firms and high-net worth individuals.
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In uncertain times, the stock market declines steadily, as seen in 2022, which reduces returns for investors in listed companies, with most investors making losses in the past year. As the global economy has slowed down, so has growth, and while we can publicly see the impact on listed companies, the impact on private companies is not as visible, though it is certain that growth has slowed considerably there as well. According to Eisner Amper, after mergers & acquisitions slowed down significantly in 2022, investments in private markets are facing uncertainty in 2023. Just as an example, M&A in the pharmaceutical sector, a sector where M&A plays a significant role, fell 46% in 2022 as compared to 2021. You can learn more about the impact on the pharma industries by visiting the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world.
Buyers and sellers are also being impacted by a myriad of negative factors including inflation, consistently increasing interest rates, uncooperative labor markets and tight supply chains, while negative sentiment regarding a probable recession has heavily impacted investment as well. On the other hand, a volatile market itself creates opportunities and Esisner Amper assumes that private equity buyers will be in an advantageous situation even as they are able to transfer more investment risk towards sellers through various means including purchase price, contingent price considerations and equity rollover, something that the biggest private equity companies by AUM can take advantage of.
Meanwhile, according to BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK), the largest investment company in the world, the Great Moderation, referring to a period of stability spanning four decades, is now over and volatility is reigning. While the company, expects greater positivity with respect to risk assets, that will take some time and meanwhile, as central banks progress towards overtightening to control inflation, there could be significant risk for investors in the near future. An important reason behind this is that according to BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK), the damage ahead isn’t currently priced in equities. Meanwhile, another of the largest private equity companies by AUM is The Carlyle Group Inc. (NYSE:CG), which stated in its Q4 2022 earnings call “Industry-wide activity rates slowed considerably in the past few months as buyers and sellers continue to search for a valuation middle ground and funding markets while available are less amenable than they were just a year ago. For Carlyle specifically, new investment and realization activity has also been slower and so we expect a muted start to 2023 for both deployment and realizations. Thus, transaction revenue and realized performance income will be lower over the next quarter or two. If, however, activity rates across the industry improve over the next few months, then our expectations for higher performance and transaction revenues will also increase”.
Determining the biggest private equity companies by market cap is no easy feat. To do this, we first went over to Private Equity International and filtered out the 30 biggest companies mentioned there. We then checked the latest figures for assets under management for each company from either its filings or its website. In most cases, we were able to bifurcate assets under management for their private equity business, especially in case of large investment or alternate investment companies which have several hundreds of billions of dollars or even trillions of dollars in AUM. For several companies, which are purely private equity firms, no bifurcation was necessary. So, let’s now take a look at the companies which combined hold over $2.2 trillion in AUM, starting with:
30. Thoma Bravo
Total assets under management (in billions): $11
Thoma Bravo is an American investment company which is primarily focused on the software sector.
29. BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)
Total assets under management (in billions): $23
BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) may be the biggest investment company in the world, but its share of the private equity market is not as significant.
28. L Catterton
Total assets under management (in billions): $30
L Catterton has 17 offices spread across the world, and recently took a majority stake in A.P.C., a famous French clothing brand.
27. Nordic Capital
Total assets under management (in billions): $33
As the name suggests, Nordic Capital is focused on investment opportunities in Northern Europe.
26. Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)
Total assets under management (in billions): $35
Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) is a global alternative investment manager headquartered in California. Currently, Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) has a market cap of nearly $23.8 billion while its revenue exceeded $3 billion in the last one year. Recently, Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) announced that it was taking a minority state in BlueCove, a scientific, fixed-income manager.
25. Stone Point Capital
Total assets under management (in billions): $35
Stone Point Capital agreed with other co-investors to purchase a stake of 20% in Truist Financial Corp’s insurance business for a total value of around $1.95 billion.
24. Cinven
Total assets under management (in billions): $42
Cinven is a European private equity company, which has recently invested over 100 million euros in the Italian life insurance company Eurovita, even as banks are writing down Eurovita loans.
23. Francisco Partners
Total assets under management (in billions): $45
The tech focused private equity company recently invested in GreenSlate, a provider of production and payroll accounting services supplied to the entertainment industry.
22. EQT
Total assets under management (in billions): $47.4
EQT, one of the biggest private equity companies by AUM, is engaged in the effort to future-proof companies, with the company currently seeking over 3 billion euros for the initial public offering, or IPO, of skincare company Galderma.
21. TA Associates
Total assets under management (in billions): $49
TA Associates is considered to be one of the earliest modern-era private equity companies in the world, with its investments spread across consumer products, financial and business services, technology and healthcare.
20. TPG Inc. (NASDAQ:TPG)
Total assets under management (in billions): $53
TPG Inc. (NASDAQ:TPG) has recently been recognized as an industry leader by Private Equity International. TPG Inc. (NASDAQ:TPG) currently has a market cap of over $10 billion while recording TTM revenue of nearly $1.9 billion.
19. Hg
Total assets under management (in billions): $55
Hg mainly targets tech buyouts in the U.S. and Europe, and the European private equity firm raised over $11 billion for the biggest European buyout fund in 2022.
18. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Total assets under management (in billions): $57
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is currently being advised by Kirkland and Ellis on a deal to take Focus Financial Partners Inc. (NASDAQ:FOCS) private worth over $7 billion.
17. Leonard Green & Partners
Total assets under management (in billions): $70
Since inception, Leonard Green & Partners has invested in 95 companies while recently, it has been considering a $5 billion sale of Pro Mach Inc.
16. Clearlake Capital Group
Total assets under management (in billions): $72
Clearlake Capital Group and American billionaire Todd Boehly led the consortium to purchase Chelsea Football Club earlier in 2022 for a deal worth $5.4 billion, according to Forbes.
15. General Atlantic
Total assets under management (in billions): $73
American private equity firms easily dominate the list of the largest private equity firms by AUM with nearly 500 employees. The firm has taken the decision to increase its strategic focus on the Middle East.
14. Permira Advisers
Total assets under management (in billions): $75
The largest private equity firm by AUM in the United Kingdom, and one of the largest in Europe, Permira Advisers is all set to purchase Acuity Knowledge Partners from Equistone.
13. Warburg Pincus
Total assets under management (in billions): $85
In 55 years, Warburg Pincus has focused solely on private equity, with its over 750 employees responsible for managing $85 billion in AUM, heralding its place as one of the biggest private equity companies by AUM.
12. Hellman & Friedman
Total assets under management (in billions): $87
The San Francisco based private equity firm is likely to reap significant returns based on an offer of $5.8 billion for Allfunds, owning 34.3% in Allfunds.
11. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)
Total assets under management (in billions): $88
It may be one of the biggest banks in the world but The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.’s (NYSE:GS) private equity arm is also among the biggest private equity companies in the world by AUM. The private equity arm of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.’s (NYSE:GS) has over 100 investment professionals working while it has an experience of over 36 years in the business, with 631 investment worth $54 billion in the Americas alone.
10. Advent International
Total assets under management (in billions): $89
Advent International focuses on the buyouts of various companies from several continents and is among the potential buyers of 3 billion euros worth of assets, of pharmaceutical giant Viatris Inc. (NYSE:VTRS).
9. Insight Partners
Total assets under management (in billions): $90
Insight Partners is a venture capital and private equity firm, with investments in excess of 600 companies of which 55 portfolio companies have had an IPO.
8. KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR)
Total assets under management (in billions): $90
One of the biggest alternative investment companies in the world, KKR & Co. Inc.’s (NYSE:KKR) private equity division has completed more than $700 billion of total enterprise value at the end of 2022.
7. Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO)
Total assets under management (in billions): $92
One of the biggest private equity companies in the world, Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) itself has a market cap of over $42 billion, while recording trailing twelve month (TTM) revenue of over $7.3 billion. Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) is currently in talks to purchase Arconic Corporation (NYSE:ARNC), a manufacturer of aerospace parts.
6. Silver Lake
Total assets under management (in billions): $92
Silver Lake focuses its investments in the tech sector, and is considered to be among the largest tech investors in the entire world. In June 2022, Shadowbox Studios, which was formerly known as Blackhall Studios, announced that Silver Lake was investing $500 billion to support a premium soundstage platform worth $1.5 billion, not to mention corporate rebranding.
5. Vista Equity Partners
Total assets under management (in billions): $95
Vista Equity Partners, led by billionaire Robert T. Smith, recently agreed to acquire technology company Duck Creek Technologies for a mouth-watering $2.6 billion.
4. CVC Capital Partners
Total assets under management (in billions): $95
CVC Capital Partners has taken a recent majority state in Scan Global Logistics, with is a logistics and transport provider, in a bid to accelerate international growth.
3. Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)
Total assets under management (in billions): $132
Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) is one of the biggest alternative investment companies in the world, while also considered to be among the largest investors in leveraged buyouts. Currently, Blackstone Inc.’s (NYSE:BX) fund has enforced limits on outflows as redemption requests fall compared to record requests in January 2023.
2. Bain Capital
Total assets under management (in billions): $160
Bain Capital, one of the leading private equity companies, has made over 1,100 investments while realizing over $111 billion in revenue in 2021. Currently, 585,000 employees are working for its portfolio companies. Meanwhile, its global team has 11 offices across four continents with over 10% of its private equity fund commitments coming from its professionals.
1. The Carlyle Group Inc. (NYSE:CG)
Total assets under management (in billions): $163
Topping the list of the 30 biggest private equity companies in the world is The Carlyle Group Inc. (NYSE:CG), which currently in total has $373 billion of assets under management in total, of which less than half are in the private equity side. As fundraising continues to remain difficult in the private equity sector, a complex fundraising activity by The Carlyle Group Inc. (NYSE:CG) only received around $500 million in sales orders which is a participation rate of just 3% of the $18.5 billion current fund.
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Disclosure: None. 30 biggest private equity companies by AUM is originally published at Insider Monkey.
