Goldman offshoot Petershill Partners performing in line post-IPO

Private equity investment company Petershill Partners reported aggregate partner-firm assets under management of $203bn at the end of its third quarter on Tuesday, growing 8% during the quarter and 35% year-on-year.

The London-listed offshoot of Goldman Sachs, which floated in an initial public offering in September, said aggregate fee-paying partner-firm assets under management came in at $145bn, meanwhile, which was ahead 6% over the quarter and 13% over the prior year.

Partner-distributable earnings totalled $107m for the quarter, growing 104% year-on-year, while partner fee-related earnings were ahead 70% over last year at $66m.

The company said partner realised performance revenues totalled $29m at period end, up 189% over the same time last year.

Including the third quarter, Petershill Partners said 21% of the partner revenue over the last 12 months came from partner realised performance revenues, which the board said highlighted the management fee-centric nature of its financial profile.

Performance remained in line with company expectations, with the medium-term guidance provided at its initial public offering remaining unchanged.

After the quarter ended, Petershill made its maiden acquisition of a new partner-firm minority equity stake in Symphony Technology Group, which was in line with its stated growth strategy.

Petershill described Symphony as a “leading, technology-focussed” US-based buyout firm, which had generated top-quartile fund returns across market cycles.

The firm manages aggregate assets of $5bn, and fee-paying assets of $3.9bn, with Petershill’s all-cash acquisition cost for the investment totalling $60m, of which $28m was funded at close.

It said the transaction was expected to be “immediately” accretive to earnings, and about 1% earnings accretive in the 2023 financial year based on analyst consensus.

“We have seen continued growth and fundraising momentum across our partner-firms, with strong increases in [both] aggregate and fee-paying assets under management positioning the business well for the fourth quarter and year ahead,” said chairman Naguib Kheraj.

“The investment in Symphony Technology Group is our first acquisition of a partner firm interest since listing, which is fully in line with our stated growth strategy and adds to our stable of top quartile private equity buyout partner-firms.”

Kheraj said the acquisition demonstrated Petershill’s strategic focus on increasing exposure to “high-quality, high-growth, technology-focussed firms”, along with healthcare and infrastructure.

“Having successfully completed our initial public offering, we have substantial firepower and a healthy pipeline of potential transactions, in addition to our organic growth prospects.”

At 1016 GMT, shares in Petershill Partners were down 0.31% at 323p.