SLIDESHOW: Top 10 European Buyout Funds Investing in U.S. 2010-Now

There were only a handful of U.S. buyouts completed by the largest European buyout funds in 2010 and so far in 2011, but we thought it might be interesting to see who was active and who had money to invest.

peHUB takes a look at the most active European buyout funds investing in the United States in the last year, in order of largest fund size, based on data from Thomson Reuters. Interestingly, two Nordic investors feature in this top 10, both with a keen eye for international acquisitions for their Nordic portfolio companies. Nordic Capital currently ranks number two in this top ten and is currently investing its 4.3 billion euro ($5.9 billion) Nordic Capital VII fund. Fellow Nordic investor Altor Equity Partners features for its June 2011 investment in Orchid Orthopedic Solutions, a supplier of design, manufacturing, and supply chain services to orthopedic implant OEMs globally. It is currently investing from its 2 billion euro ($2.76 billion) Altor Fund III.

At the top of the list, however, is global buyout house Apax Partners, which boasts four completed deals in the United States in 2010/11 investing from two of its mega European buyout funds—the 4.31 billion euro ($5.96 billion) Apax Europe VI LP and the 11.2 billion euro ($15.5 billion) Apax Europe VII LP.

Apax Partners

Description: Global buyout firm with European roots. Funds advised by Apax Partners typically invest in large companies with a value between 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) and 5 billion euros ($6.9 billion). The funds invest in five sectors: financial & business services, healthcare, media, retail & consumer, tech & telecom.

Funds Investing: Apax Europe VI LP, 4.31 billion euros ($5.96 billion); Apax Europe VII LP, 11.2 billion euros ($15.5 billion).

Total Value of Deals (known/estimated): 549.36 million euros ($760.45 million)/ 605.14 million euros ($837.88 million).

Deal Information: Epicor Software Corp., provider of enterprise business software for the mid-market and divisions of Global 1000 companies (April 2011). Equity invested: 338.06 million euros ($467.97 million) from Apax Europe VII LP and 85.45 million euros ($118.29 million) from Apax Europe VI LP.

iGATE/Patni (January/May 2011). Apax funds invested up to $480 million in iGATE, an information technology company, and iGATE’s subsidiaries subsequently acquired a majority stake in Patni Computer Systems, a global provider of information technology services.

TriZetto Group, a supplier of software and related services to health plans and other health care payers (August 2010/February 2011). Value undisclosed.

Advantage Sales & Marketing, sales and marketing agency (November 2010). Value undisclosed.