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History

The development of Apax Partners

The history of Apax Partners is interwoven with the development of the private equity asset class in Europe and the US. Throughout its 30 year history, the firm has successfully raised and advised 31 funds which have invested across all investment stages, and through several economic cycles.

The firm was born as a venture capital business and in its early years, during the 1980s and early 1990s, pioneered venture investing in Europe and in the US. This is when the firm started to specialise in specific sectors and to focus on driving growth in portfolio companies. This is also the period when country funds were raised (UK, Germany, US, Israel).

From 1993, Apax started to invest in buy-outs and raised 'balanced funds' with a growing portion of buy-outs over venture capital. At the same time, country teams were being merged and regional rather than domestic funds were raised. By 2001, when Apax Europe V was raised, 78% of the capital raised for that fund was invested in buy-outs.

In the ensuing period, Apax moved away from investing in venture capital to focus on pure-play leveraged buyouts but retained its strong focus on sector expertise, growth, and the operational rather than financial backgrounds of its investment professionals.  This sector-focused strategy has served the firm well and has been endorsed by investors, with buyout funds raised of €21.9bn ($28.5bn) since 2005, including the first fully global fund, Apax VIII, in 2012.

At the same time, the firm has expanded geographically, opening offices in China in 2005 and 2008, and India in 2006.

Apax's key competitive advantage today is based on the firm's deep sector and sub-sector knowledge, combined with its extensive global reach and local knowledge, driven by regional offices around the world.  This unique sector expertise and global footprint enables Apax to help its portfolio companies develop and grow in an ever-globalizing marketplace, and to assist with expansion into international markets through organic or M&A-driven activity..