Top european megafunds

CVC, Apax, Permira, Cinven.

And yes, some of these recruit undergrads.

I know for sure 2 out of these don't, and I'm pretty sure 1 else doesn't either... Just don't know about CVC.

When you say recruit undergrads, I take it you are referring to Bsc + 2 years in IBD. If that is the case, I know at least Permira take on undergraduates and I'm sure the others do as well. To the best of my knowledge, you don't need an MBA for entry level PE-positions in Europe. But I could be wrong.

cinven does internships dont know if they convert that into offers though, i highly doubt it.

cvc is pretty baller they are doing a lot of deals, top place here in europe.

I am more interested in PE-opportunities post analyst stints. Are you saying Permira doesn't hire IBD analysts with only bachelor degrees?

Let me rephrase: 1) Permira, Cinven and a few others don't hire straight out of undergrad 2) but they do hire after IBD, without necessarily an MBA (check their website) 3) Not sure about Brits or what happens to people with "only" BSc as for most European countries Masters is the usual diploma before going to IBD. Again, check websites... Shouldn't be a problem though

1-2) Thanks for clarifying. 3) I believe this is changing and more people from continental europe are entering IBD with bachelor degrees. I.e. why waste 1-2 years on an MSc when you can get the same job after your Bsc? I think only regional banks look to hire MSc:s, whereas all the top London banks hire straight out of undergrad

Not sure about that. At least for Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Poland... In all these countries the normal path goes through master studies for people wo want to go into consulting or banking.

It's not wasting time, it's just that outside the UK, the "elite" universities are all at masters level. Think about Bocconi, HEC/ESSEC/ESCP/X/ENPC/ECP for France, RSM, Loewen, University of Stockholm... All the guys you see who come from these backgrounds have masters.

all have masters and more and more so in the UK as well.

what? there are fucking tons of people from HEC and ESCP at BBs in London. and most of them do have an MSc and the same is true for Bocconi and SSE exception being WHU and EBS, but those kids tend to do Masters at a later point.

its difficult to get into IBD from continental Europe with only a BSc. also in the UK many kids from LSE, Oxbridge or Warwick are getting their Masters.

wow

I have to tell a lot of people they don't actually work at BBs in London/what they have is not a Masters but a BSc/they have not been interviewing in banking

don't want to start a troll though...

The guys in London coming from HEC and ESCP do 5 year programs called grand ecoles which are equivalent to a master's degree. They are very rarely coming from their "specialized msc." however, which don't carry the same weight as a grande ecole programme (two years of prepa followed by 3 at HEC/ESCP..)

Work at BB in London, and one of the MDs is from ESSEC. Tons of ESCP kids as well working at BBs in London.

as the other poster said, plenty of ESCP guys in IBD, particularly at MS. In London no major PE shop that I know of recruits straight from undergrad, except Blackstone/SilverLake (but all their guys in London office are from US anyway). In Continental Europe, particularly Paris for some reason, it's common to see firms like CVC/Permira/Cinven/PAI/AXA recruit interns - very very few however receive FT offers. I personally met a few ex. Cinven/PAI/Permira interns (didnt get FT) who are now working for some no name consulting/accountancy firms...etc, which is crazy given the companies they interned at. But yeah these kind of internships are only offered in Paris and not London. WHY? I have no idea. Maybe someone who's French can explain this.

Mega: CVC, Permira

Next: BC Partners, Advent, Cinven

@fomc: I'm currently an intern in one of the funds you mentionned in Paris, here are a few elements to help you understand: 1) the French education system in the Grandes Ecoles is largely built on internships. Most of business schools require students to do over 15 months of internships to graduate. So there is a large amount of workfoce available

2) internships in France are poorly paid and less taxed than normal jobs, which makes it a good deal for companies to hire interns: cheap workforce who must do niternships, trained with previous internships...

3)the guys who are interns in these funds usually have M&A/consulting experience (before this last internship I was in BB for 6 months and before that in strategy team in F500 corp, one of my friend did consulting + finance in F500, another did LevFin + 2 internships in PE before being hired by BX...) And those are 6 months internships during which you actually work (= do the same work as an A1 in banking...)

3) the deal is usually very clear in the first interview: "we hire interns but the chance we hire you for a FT position is less than 1%". Though these funds help a lot finding a job (great reco + contacts everywhere). It's also not unusual to be said "see you 2 years from now"

4) in London interns are usually paid the same as analysts (at least in banking). FYI, A1 in bank ~ €60k (depending on the bank...) whithout the bonus. Intern in french bank ~ €18-24k (between 1.5-2k/months). Just cheap workforce. (and if you think this is cheap, it's even worse in media/advertising with €400/month is the normal pay)

Cinven has interns in Paris & London, BX in London (RE, no intern in PE for now), PAI Partners in Paris, Permira in Paris and in Frankfurt (I think). They also have MBA summer interns. It mostly depends on the French population in the London office (=French people know they can have cheap workforce/slaves who will be thrilled to be so)

hope that helps

I'm also working right now as a long-term intern at one of the larger funds in Europe and can confirm most of that has been said by pipole4.

Point 3b) is pretty well known to me, too. A bit of a pitty, but I'll have to change my employeer after the 10 months internship as there is right now no budget/vacancy for new analysts. Anyways, what I experience is that my bosses are really helping me out. They open their networks and try to get me a placement. At least that's now the way how I'll pursue to get a FTE shot a one of the larger funds here in Europe (and it would be pretty good though to avoid 2 years of M&A).

I also agree with the description of the funds handling the entries in Europe. I'd add Carlyle here, too. They take Analysts with outstanding CV's. Permira in Frankfurt is not hiring interns (what I heard: they never did). Cinven in Frankfurt does not need FTEs right now (hired 2 the last summer), but is generally offering internships (and states straight-forward no matter how good you are, you cannot get in direclty without 2 year BB or MBB experience). Bain Capital should be the same like in the US, more or less they convert they guys from Consulting. AXA PE is hiring interns all the time, the conversion rate is pretty high though (but almost no chance without an internship).

Anyone knows something about Barclays PE? They look pretty interesting to me, but couldn't find further info on them (especially for continental Europe).

Can anyone shed some light on how the US megafunds are regarded in London?

Does anyone know what's the process for megafund PE recruiting in London? heard from someone that process is different from the US, in the sense that they recruit a few months before actual starting date (whereas in US they started now for summer 2012 start) and normally interview more experienced analysts, 2nd year and 3rd year analysts.

This is definitely an interesting thread. I was thinking of adding my 2 pence as well. It's great that continental Europe has a different model and I think it definitely pays off handsomely. In London BBs you can definitely find a strong contingent of French, Swedish / Nordic and German students. More than 50% of the positions available are occupied by the continental European students who have significant amounts of previous experience. I think the UK should definitely embrace this model - having so much internship experience also helps one decide which side of banking is most suitable for one's interests.

Think this list should be expanded to not just existing top megafunds, but top mid market funds likely to be the next top megafunds / top niche player funds (e.g. silverlake, providence).

Fast growing, top returning funds are likely to be better careers long term. you want to join the next KKR not be employee #500 at KKR.

Would add Marlin Equity Partners to the list of top niche / up and coming PE shops. they invest mostly in software/tech but also in services, industrials, consumer. Think of cross between Vista and Gores (several ex heads of Gores are at Marlin now). Understand Marlin has tier 1 returns and is growing very fast which is a major positive (look at AUM trajectory of last 5 funds). They also have a flexible mandate so they compete against top growth equity funds, midmarket funds, turnaround funds depending on the type of deal, but they are also competing against the big names e.g. Advent, KKR in the upper mid market. Will be interesting to see what happens - the next fund could be $3bn-$5bn if they continue to perform as historically. Based on their website, they're also attracting ex bankers from top firms/schools e.g. wharton, yale, / GS, MS, HL, etc. They also have a highly operational focus like Vista.

Would also add HgCapital but not growing as fast