Soros Group Launches $1B European LBO Arm –

Soros Private Equity Partners (SPEP) is the latest buyout firm to cross the Atlantic, swelling the ranks of U.S. private equity firms with an appetite for European deals. The firm has opened a London office headed by partner Ramez Sousou, a former director of Goldman, Sachs & Co.’s private equity operations, and has made an initial $1 billion allocation for investments in Europe.

An affiliate of Soros Fund Management LLC, SPEP makes direct private equity investments on behalf of the $3.5 billion Quantum Industrial Holdings Fund and Quantum Realty, a $600 million property-focused vehicle.

Although SPEP has to date focused principally on investments in North America, the firm already has deployed more than $130 million in Europe through its New York operation. A spokesperson for SPEP declined to comment on the firm’s existing private equity holdings in Europe.

The London office will focus on Western Europe, in which it has identified the media, telecommunications, publishing and financial services sectors as primary targets. The firm may also consider opportunities in emerging European markets, although further information was unavailable at press time.

Mr. Sousou will report directly to New York-based managing director Frank Sica, who joined Soros Fund Management last year to head the international private equity team (BUYOUTS July 6, 1998, p. 3). SPEP anticipates building a team of eight investment professionals in London by year end.

Quantum Industrial Holdings, which is the principal private equity vehicle of the Quantum Group of Funds was formed in 1994 and capitalized by distributions from other funds within the group. Another Soros group vehicle, Quasar International Fund, merged with Quantum Industrial Holdings last year.