Apax Vs CD&R vs LGP
Which one would you personally take an offer out of Apax, CD&R and Leonard Green Partners? This is for senior aso position.
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Assuming this is for the US, I would toss Apax out of the mix and decide between CD&R and LGP based on your location preference. If location agnostic, LGP seems more chill but CD&R is better performing (though splitting hairs) at the cost of having a very uptight / old school culture
Leonard Green or CD&R without a doubt. They are both top caliber firms, but with different investment styles. Leonard Green has a growth orientation with a willingness to pay higher multiples for quality businesses and management teams. From what I understand, CD&R takes a more classic operational approach to value creation with focuses on M&A and margin expansion. They compete with the traditional MF PE firms on both deals and talent. I’m sure pay is on par with MF PE as well. It does seem like they have widely differing cultures and that’s apparent just from looking at their websites.
CD&R's bread and butter is A+B deals. Great performance. Associates are very busy.
A+B?
Apax most fun
CD&R best performance
LGP best location
Apax certainly isn't most fun
CD&R places no value on EQ. Apax has a more 'fun' investment style. Obviously neither job is fun.
Thank you everyone for the help. I am curious why people are disregarding Apax?
I have no strong ties but like living in NYC and between CDR vs Apax was leaning towards Apax given it seemed to have a more interesting investment style vs CDR.
If Apax is significantly behind the other two, will definitely reconsider. I spent the last couple of years in a MM fund so don't understand the MF landscape very well
Apax is not behind the two, they are just global so the perception in the US is a bit diluted (so in the US your brand name is hurt but the firm itself is more dominant on a global basis)
I would go CD&R > Apax > Leonard Green (focusing on actual performance, fund size, and preference for NYC)
Can I PM you? Going through a similar process right now
bump
Bump
Apax and CD&R are both highly operationally focused but in entirely different ways from the outside
-CD&R tries to implement M&A driven synergies to kill costs
-Apax tries to maximize operational efficiency and value creation along the supply chain to kill costs.
Both implement financial engineering to improve performance and valuation.
Not familiar w Leonard Green but they're a Cali shop if that's your cup of tea and I would say prestige wise not at par with the other two (brand name prestige not fund size)
Would go between Apax and CD&R here. Edge to Apax if interested in tech/disruption, edge to CD&R if interested in finance/value.
Both are in the middle of very successful raises (10bn+ each already, which is no easy task in today's environment).
I think LGP is being slept on. Top tier fund with a good culture and nice strategy (high quality growing businesses). They pay top if street and if you like LA quality of life is great. Honestly all three great choices
Completely agree with LGP being a quality shop but to that point all 3 are extremely high quality shops, it’s really more about location/vertical/etc that someone prefers
Bump
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