West Private Equity confirms fund plans

West Private Equity, the new private equity arm of WestLB, has now crystallised plans for the launch of its pan-European fund and revealed the identity of its third principal, Dr Michael Paetsch, who will head the group’s German advisory company, West Private Capital. Dr Paetsch has a strong telecommunications background, having spent eight years at Siemens and o.tel.o, the VEBA/RWE joint venture. Chief executive Philip Buscombe, formerly of Investcorp, and managing director Jeremy Hand, ex-Duke Street, head the London team (see page 25).

The target set for the vehicle is euro 400 million rather than the euro 500 million originally mooted, a figure that is nonetheless consistent with the fund’s mid-market focus. As expected, WestLB has made a substantial contribution, providing the fund with euro 140 million of initial capital. Salomon Smith Barney has been appointed external placement agent for the fund, and marketing to institutions in Europe, the US and the Middle East will kick off in September.

West Private Equity will target buyout/buy-in and expansion capital opportunities among businesses in the euro 25 million to euro 250 million value range. Reflecting the specific expertise of its senior executives, the fund is likely to favour four key industry sectors: business support services; IT, telecoms and media; consumer products and services; and special situation’ industrials. This focus is not, however, exclusive, and the vehicle will invest opportunistically across a broad range of industry sectors.

Germany will naturally be one of the fund’s principal target markets, given the strength of WestLB’s domestic network. West Private Equity’s other first choice’ markets are the UK, Benelux, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. The fund may also invest in France, Spain and Scandinavia, albeit more selectively.

Precedents for the West Private Equity operation are encouraging: WestLB was founding sponsor of the CWB private equity business, which metamorphosed into Doughty Hanson.