Warburg Pincus Closes $15B Global Fund

[IMGCAP(1)]NEW YORK CITY-Global private equity firm Warburg Pincus has closed its $15 billion fund, Warburg Pincus Private Equity X LP. The global fund will be invested in core industry sectors, consistent with the firm’s growth-oriented strategy to focus on early-stage, growth and late-stage businesses across North America, Europe and Asia.

A firm representative tells GlobeSt.com that the fundraising began or “was established” in 2007, but she could not provide further information regarding the fund noting that “we would like to limit our public statement to the press release.” Joseph Landy, co-president of Manhattan-based Warburg Pincus, says in a prepared statement that “we are gratified that limited partners continue to be attracted to our unique model–to invest across domains, geography and across company stage of life, out of a single, global fund. We have a time-tested approach–growth investing in growth-oriented regions. This is a particularly attractive investment strategy in the current environment.”

[IMGCAP(2)]Warburg Pincus focuses on helping to create or build companies. This strategy encompasses conceiving and creating venture capital opportunities, providing capital to meet the needs of existing businesses, or investing in later-stage buy-outs and special situations, where growth is a key aspect of the investment thesis.

Over the past 30 years, Warburg Pincus has enhanced its global position by establishing a local presence around the world. The firm has developed domain expertise in a number of sectors, including consumer and retail, energy, financial services, healthcare and life sciences, industrial and technology, media and telecommunications, with many sub-sectors of specialization.

[IMGCAP(3)]The firm made its first international investment in 1983. Warburg Pincus, which opened its London office in 1987 and its Hong Kong office in 1994, also has been an active investor in emerging markets including China, India and Central and Eastern Europe. Currently, more than 40% of Warburg Pincus’ investments and professionals are outside the US.

“We’ve always viewed our mission as being investors, as opposed to asset managers,” says co-president Charles Kaye, in a prepared statement. “Our ability to generate superior rates of return has always been a function of our willingness to search for a market discontinuity, whether it be technology driven, or propelled by an economic dislocation or an entirely new business opportunity. Our fundamental goal is to build businesses that deliver sustainable value over the long term.”

Existing investors substantially increased their commitments to WP X, according to the release. The fund’s investors include leading public and private pension funds, endowments and global financial institutions including the Washington State Investment Board and GE Asset Management. The fund also attracted numerous first-time investors, including the Universities Superannuation Scheme and the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.

Joseph Dear, executive director of Washington State Investment Board, says in the release that Warburg Pincus is one of the handful of firms that have consistently “delivered superior returns to our retirement assets.”The firm is well-positioned to perform, particularly in light of today’s turbulent market conditions.”

Since inception, Warburg Pincus has raised 12 private equity funds that have invested more than $29 billion in approximately 600 companies in more than 30 countries. Warburg Pincus currently has an active portfolio of more than 100 companies. The firm has 59 managing directors and more than 160 professionals in Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai and Tokyo.