Ares, BDT Capital with major hires

Happy Thursday!

Big people move this morning: Ares Management hired the former PE head from Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Stephane Etroy as head of European private equity. The role is effective Feb. 6. Etroy stepped down from CDPQ in November and was replaced by Charles Émond. Prior to CDPQ, Etroy spent more than a decade at Charterhouse Capital Partners, where he was a partner.

Etroy joins Ares as the firm sees “significant opportunity for expansion of our private equity franchise in Europe,” said David Kaplan, Ares co-founder and co-chairman of the private equity group, in a statement.

And another …

Last year I wrote that Robert Reid had left Blackstone Group after over a decade at the firm. Reid has joined BDT Capital, the secretive investment firm led by Byron Trott, a former Goldman Sachs banker. Reid joins as a partner and co-head of the New York office. Check out my story here.

BDT Capital is an interesting firm. BDT considers itself a merchant bank, providing advisory services to founder and family-led businesses, and also runs investment funds. BDT has raised a lot of money since its founding in 2009, and is in market with its third pool that raised at least $6.3 billion as of May, according to a Form D fundraising document. I’m not clear how much Fund III is targeting.

Have you heard of other big people moves? Let’s chat at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com.

Interesting scoop from WSJ – Grubhub is exploring strategic options amid increased competition that could include a potential sale. Grubhub went public almost six years ago and has a market value of roughly $5 billion, down from more than $13 billion over a year ago, WSJ reported.

We use Grubhub at our house (on the weekends), but it can get a bit confusing with all the other food delivery services in the market like DoorDash, Postmates and Uber Eats. Venture-backed companies have created stiff competition in the delivery industry, WSJ wrote. We learned only recently that you can get McDonald’s happy meals delivered to the house, which is amazing. Ahhh technology.

That seems to be a problem with the business: “Promiscuous” diners are using more than one delivery app — a challenge to Grubhub’s business, said the company’s CEO Matt Maloney, WSJ wrote.

Mr. Maloney told the Journal in October that the industry is “in a weird bubble that is about to burst.” He also said private investors have become more skeptical in the wake of the abortive IPO of WeWork parent We Co. That has dented the valuations of Grubhub’s private peers and may make them more primed for deals.

Top Scoops
Sagard Holdings, the private investment arm of Power Corp, has collected an initial $475 million for its inaugural healthcare royalty fund, writes master of fundraising scoops Kirk Falconer. Sagard Healthcare Royalty Partners launched into the market last spring and held a first close in December. Check it out here.

ClassPass closed a $285 million Series E investment led by L Catterton and Apax Digital, bringing its valuation to $1 billion, writes our new M&A reporter Eva Fedderly. With the fresh capital, ClassPass intends to double down on international expansion. Check it out here.

That’s it! Have a great day. Hit me up as always with tips n’ gossip, feedback, Scotch recommendations or just to chat at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com, on Twitter or find me on LinkedIn.