Firms & Funds

Former TPG executive Peel preps debut fund at 1 bln euros

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Novalpina Capital, private equity, TPG, Stephen Peel
Photo of Stephen Peel courtesy of Lenta.
  • Stephen Peel worked at TPG from 1997 to 2014
  • Targets 1 bln euros for Novalpina fund
  • Works with ex-Centerbridge executive Stefan Kowski

Stephen Peel, a former TPG Capital executive, is preparing to launch his debut fund with a target of up to 1 billion euros ($1.09 billion) for investments in Europe, according to people with knowledge of the fund.

Peel’s fund is not officially in the market. His firm, Novalpina Capital, is based in London, one market source said. The firm will work with Park Hill Group on the fundraising, a separate source said.

Peel is working with Stefan Kowski, a managing director at Centerbridge Partners, who appears to have left in January, Kowski’s LinkedIn profile indicates. It’s unclear who else works at the firm.

Novalpina will focus on “complex” situations in the European middle market, one source said. This could include distressed situations but is broader than simply a distressed strategy, the source said. The firm generally makes control investments.

Novalpina does not yet have a website. It is still in its early days, one of the sources said.

Peel worked at TPG from 1997 to 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile. TPG hired him to open a European office, according to a 2014 article about Peel in the Wall Street Journal. Peel also worked on investments in Turkey and Russia, and in 2008 he moved to Hong Kong to run TPG’s Asia and emerging-markets business, the WSJ reported.

He was at Goldman Sachs from 1989 to 1997, his LinkedIn profile says.

Peel also served as a visiting fellow of practice for 2016-2017 at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford. He founded not-for-profit SMP Policy Innovation Ltd.

Action Item: Novalpina’s Gazette filing: http://bit.ly/2oUnImO

Photo of Stephen Peel courtesy of Lenta.