Annual Review 2011
Date: 27/07/2011
I am pleased to share our annual review for the year ended March 2011.
Having realised four investments that had reached the end of their lifecycle with us in late 2009 and early 2010, we have been able to focus on the new market opportunity for investment in 2010 and 2011.
We are well placed to take advantage of a very attractive investment environment. In addition our portfolio is performing strongly overall and our unrealised companies are actively seeking new acquisitions and other expansion opportunities in order to implement ambitious growth strategies.
Since the beginning of 2010, we have made nine major investments, including acquiring six new platform companies, all with the potential for impressive growth over the medium-term. All of these investments have been made outside formal auction processes, with an average of 6 months of formal due diligence. We have proven our ability to originate attractive off-market transactions: our recent investments were made at an average entry multiple of 6x EBITDA.
Our recent accomplishments represent the highest level of activity ever at Duke Street and the best investment environment that I have seen since the 1990s. This market opportunity is here to stay and we have built an extensive pipeline of new world deals that fit the Duke Street criteria.
As we look forward, we anticipate completing the final investments for Fund VI by 2012, having retained sufficient capital to enable our portfolio companies to deliver against their ambitious growth plans through the life of our ownership. We expect to complete our first exits from Fund VI in 2012, as this fund moves toward the realisation phase.
Peter Taylor
Managing Partner, Duke Street