Permira’s co-CEOs Brian Ruder and Dipan Patel: We see interesting opportunities for take-privates

Founded in 1985, Permira has invested around €75 billion in hundreds of businesses worldwide from a platform that spans large-cap private equity, growth equity and credit strategies.

Brian and Dipan have played key roles in expanding the firm’s global presence and diversifying its investment strategies.

In their conversation with Steffen, they shared insights into their transition to co-leadership, their outlook on the private equity market and Permira’s approach to take-private opportunities.

Here’re some of the highlights:

Benefits of a co-CEO model

“The art of leading is about how to make high-quality decisions in a reasonable period of time. A co-CEO model allows us to share ideas, challenge each other and ultimately helps us make better decisions faster."

The appeal of private equity

“Private markets have been successful because they offer high alignment and control in how businesses operate. Their timeframes — typically a 7-year-plus horizon for creating value — is hard to achieve in public markets where shareholders want to see quarterly progress on pretty much every initiative.”

Opportunities in take-privates

“Public markets are great if you’re in private equity. There’s a level of inherent ‘short-termism’ in public markets where 70% of activity is driven by computers. Meanwhile, the world of long-only fund management is becoming smaller, which creates more volatility but also generates many interesting opportunities for take-privates.”

Success in the consumer sector

“We are looking for brands with great products that people love and where we see the opportunity to do something fundamentally different. Golden Goose, for example, had only a small presence in the US when we invested. It’s now a significant part of the business. Previously, the company's revenue came almost entirely from footwear, but now a meaningful percentage is generated from non-footwear products.”

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