Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.
We were live from Berlin, which becomes the “capital of private capital” in June as the private equity’s industry leaders make the annual pilgrimage to the city for one of the marquee private equity conferences, SuperReturn Berlin.
Much of the SuperReturn conference is centered on fundraising. GPs take up every available space — from hotel rooms to Tiny Space cabins that line the parking spots on Budapester Strasse outside of the InterContinental conference venue — to conduct meetings with LPs.
With Prosek Partners and former Bloomberg TV journalist Deirdre Bolton as my producer, along with her team, we took over a Tiny Space cabin to hold big conversations with some of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers.
Our first conversation was with Apax Co-CEOs Andrew Sillitoe and Mitch Truwit.
Apax is one of the pioneers in the private equity industry. The firm’s rich history dates back to the 1970s, when its founders, Alan Patricof (US), Sir Ronald Cohen (UK), and Maurice Tchénio (France), came together to establish the first US-UK partnership firm in private equity. During that time period, the firm backed Steve Jobs and the first iteration of Apple. The UK and US firms merged in 1981, laying the foundation for Apax.
Today, Apax stands at over $80B in aggregate funds raised. The firm underwent its second leadership transition in 2014, when Andrew and Mitch were elected as Co-CEOs, succeeding Martin Halusa, who became Chairman.
Apax sits in a unique position. They are a scaled platform that focuses on the middle market. They operate across three sectors, Tech, Services, and Digital / Consumer, infusing a digital DNA and value creation team into everything they do. Their platform spans “a mile wide and a mile deep,” which is what much of the conversation between Andrew, Mitch, and me unpacked.
We had a fascinating discussion about the current state of private equity and the middle market, why Apax focuses on “density-driven business models,” why the firm focuses on carveouts in the middle market, what’s underappreciated about the middle market, why it’s important to “buy in the right neighborhood and fix it up,” and how the firm’s core values of “having impact through insight and tenacity” drive every decision they make.
Bios
Andrew Sillitoe has been Co-CEO of Apax since 2014. He is Chairman of the Apax Global Investment Committee and the Digital Investment Committee, amongst others. He is also a member of the Apax Executive Committee. He has been based in London since joining the Firm in 1998, focusing on Tech & Telco investments.
Andrew has been involved in a number of investments including Inmarsat, Intelsat, King, Orange Switzerland, TIVIT, TDC and Unilabs.
Prior to joining Apax, Andrew was a consultant at LEK. Andrew holds an MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford and an MBA from INSEAD.
Boards
Andrew has previously served on the boards of Inmarsat, King, Intelsat, Orange Switzerland and TDC.
Mitch Truwit is Co-CEO of Apax, based in New York.
Prior to joining Apax in 2006, Mitch was the President and CEO of Orbitz Worldwide between 2005 and 2006 and was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of priceline.com between 2001 and 2005.
Mitch is a graduate of Vassar College where he received a BA in Political Science. He also holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Boards
Mitch serves as a Board member of Openlane and Trade Me. Prior boards include Advantage Sales & Marketing, Assured Partners, Dealer.com, Bankrate, Garda World, Hub International, Trader Canada, Boats Group and Quality Distribution Inc.
Mitch serves on the charitable boards of the Apax Foundation, the John McEnroe Tennis Project, Posse and StreetSquash.
Thanks, Andrew and Mitch, for a fascinating conversation and for sharing your expertise, wisdom, and passion at the intersection of investing and operating in private equity.
Show Notes
00:00 Meet Apax co-CEOs, Andrew Sillitoe and Mitch Truwit
00:26 Andrew’s Origins at Apax
00:47 Private Equity Then vs Now
01:25 Apax Growth and Values
01:45 Curiosity as a Differentiator
02:04 Mitch’s Operator Background
02:56 Why Mitch Joined Apax
03:40 Defining the Middle Market
04:14 Why Sub-Billion EV Works
04:59 Middle Market Talent Gap
05:20 Carve Outs as a Strategy
05:29 TRADER Corporation - Canada App Turnaround
06:12 Scaled Platform Advantage
07:14 Digital DNA and AI Wave
07:50 Top Line Growth Lever
08:36 Add-ons and TAM Expansion
09:33 ECI Case Study Roll Up
10:07 Integration Over Collection
10:28 Exit Options in a Bigger PE World
10:59 Building for Multiple Buyers
11:45 Fund Size Discipline
12:34 Choosing Returns Over AUM
13:16 Understanding Firm DNA
14:01 Global Micro Investing
14:49 Making Global Pods Work
15:50 Scale Specialization Flexibility
17:08 Where to Invest Now
19:23 Buying Complexity for Value
20:15 Moats and Investment Committee
22:13 Why Middle Market Excites Them
23:19 Future of PE and AI at Scale
24:50 Impact Insight Tenacity Culture
25:54 Obligation to Dissent Story
26:55 Aspirational Brand Analogy
27:48 Wrap Up and Thanks
