Firms & Funds

ICG, Goldman lead spinout of PE team from ZZ Capital

-
Intermediate Capital Group, Goldman Sachs, ZZ Capital, Aretex Capital Partners, private equity
Refinery pipelines. Photo courtesy ewg3D/E+/Getty Images
  • Sergio D’Angelo formerly worked at KKR
  • Andrew Feller is a former partner at Metalmark Capital
  • Aretex has ambitions to raise external fund in future

Executives from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Metalmark Capital have spun out of a Chinese investment firm and started their own shop.

Aretex Capital Partners, which focuses on investments in Europe and North America, spun out of ZZ Capital International.

Aretex is led by founders Sergio D’Angelo and Andrew Feller, both of whom led European and North American private equity investing at ZZ Capital.

Intermediate Capital Group Strategic Equity and Goldman Sachs Asset Management led a group that invested $325 million into the transaction.

Park Hill Group was adviser on the deal.

The key to the spinout was the acquisition of Alerian, the Dallas provider of energy-infrastructure indices and market intelligence.

ZZ Capital announced the pending acquisition of Alerian last year but the deal never closed, sources said.

At the time, ZZ Capital said it would pay about $506 million, subject to adjustment, rollover of the CEO’s equity and potential payments up to $230 million if Alerian met certain performance targets.

Proceeds from the investment are being used to acquire Alerian, as well as additional assets out of ZZ Capital International, a news release said. The capital also will be used to manage the assets and for potential follow-on investments.

Aretex, employing nine people, will focus on middle-market investments in Europe and North America in healthcare, business and financial services and consumer.

Aretex will spend time focusing on the existing portfolio and may choose to raise an external fund, sources said.

As part of the transaction, John Jacobs, a former executive vice president at Nasdaq responsible for all aspects of Nasdaq’s Global Information Services, joined Alerian’s board as chairman.

D’Angelo previously was a senior member of the European PE group at KKR, eventually co-leading European healthcare investing. Feller formerly was a partner at Metalmark, which he joined at inception in 2004.

Action Item: Check out Aretex’s Form ADV here: https://bit.ly/2tYgoH5