Saw a tweet from a big restructuring account and was surprised in the replies people said Sycamore hasn't raised since 2017.
Is this true? Is it because they are having trouble fundraising? Bad place / any insight on doing an associate stint there?
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Based on the most helpful WSO content, there is no specific mention in the provided context about Sycamore's fundraising activities or whether they have raised funds since 2017. Additionally, there is no information regarding their fundraising challenges or insights into doing an associate stint there.
I'm sorry, but it looks like this may be out of my ability to answer... maybe some of the links below might help?
Yes I’m sure the place that just acquired Walgreens for $10b is struggling to raise capital / get deals done and would be an awful place to be an associate…
honestly these aren't really related points. what's your explanation for why they haven't raised?
also for a $5bn fund having that large of an equity check in one biz is...interesting
obv seems like they have had some great funds and take pedigreed folks but do think additional context is helpful on fundraising
Fund raising probably has been mixed outcomes for a multitude of reasons (just like a lot of other firms on the street). Am sure slow deployment is a big factor.
On joining as an associate, I know 2 former associates from my undergrad who left halfway before the end of the program (which typically isn’t a great sign) and seems like a bunch of mid-level folks have left in the past year or so. Haven’t heard greatest things on culture.
Sycamore's returns are pretty bad. I would avoid. You don't want to go to a place that is struggling to raise a fund.
Eh - Fund 1 was a home run for them. Fund 2 wasn’t good, and fund 3 has been tracking well (but will be defined by WBA success obviously).
Very slow to deploy this last fund, which probably made it tough to start a fundraise on fund IV (although they just filed and news seems to point towards fundraise effort starting late last year). Significant co-invest on a lot of their deals also, LPs have had the appetite for what they underwrite. Still a great seat.
As per pitchbook most recent fund seems to be doing well. general perception also pretty good
I would classify their most recent fund as "ok" rather than "doing well". Marked at 1.6x net MOIC and 19% Net IRR and 0.5x DPI as of Q4 and was apparently marked down by mid single digits in Q1 (I work at a large secondary shop that also has primary capabilities). What do you mean by "general perecetion is also pretty good"? By who?
Fund III is mostly retail companies held at high teen EBITDA multiples with very high single digit leverage. There is significant risk here.
Again, as a potential employee of a PE firm, you want to find a place that can raise consistent / growing funds with potential for upwards mobility. Given that they haven't raised since 2017, and with serious question marks about the industry they target, and their historical track record, personally I would be hesistant about joining a place like this.
Consumer / retail PE is not doing well, and I would want to skate to where the puck is going (michael scott) rather than to where it has been.
Also FWIW, Fund III has also already called over 100% of capital (pre walgreens), so the reason they haven't raised since 2017 isn't because they needed to do "1 more deal" or anything like that. If they had been able to raise, they would have started a long time ago.
They have been very bad at deploying capital for this latest fund, they haven't raised because A) LP's are (correctly) pretty pissed at the lack of deployment, and B) they hadn't even finished the previous fund. This is not a good sign for them at all, but it's not as much of a blackmark of a place to avoid as going to market and struggling to raise like AmSec or Onex for example. FYI, from the perspective of real returns to LP's, this latest fund is going to be bad given how long it took to deploy unless this Walgreens deal has a massive multiplier, which is heavily unlikely given the size of the check and level of competition in the large-cap space.
Probably better to be slow to deploy compared to half the market emptying out the dry powder in 2021 lol, but fair point.
From what I hear the raise will be fine, but yeah wouldn’t expect to be a $10B flagship.
WBA deal will be a great marketing tool for them as well, the amount of moving pieces there to pull it off was flat out impressive.
good point might be better than the peer group of 2017 funds. also might be off base here but thought IRR calculated as fund is deployed and capital calls are made?
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