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Dear Shareholders,
vs. €88.2m in 2015. These divestments
related mainly to Infopro Digital, TEXA,
Capio and Unilabs.
Altamir also invested at a brisk pace
during the year. The Company invested
and committed €112.3m (vs. €143.2m
in 2015, a record year), including €83m
in eight new companies in Europe and
the United States and €29.3m in follow-
on investments in existing portfolio
companies, in particular to finance
certain of their acquisitions.
In light of these strong results, and in
accordance with our distribution policy,
the Supervisory Boardwill recommend a
dividend of €0.65 per share (vs. €0.56 in
2016) at the General Meeting on 28 April
2017. This represents an increase of 16%
compared to the dividend paid in 2016,
and a return of more than 4.5% based
on the price at the beginning of this year
(5.2% in 2016).
After taking into account divestment
possibilities for the period 2016-19 and
cash outflows to pay management
fees and dividends, your Management
Company, after consultation with the
Supervisory Board, has decided to invest
€500m in the next three to four years,
including €300m in the Apax France IX
fund and €138m in the Apax IX LP fund,
and to reserve around €60m for co-
investments.
This decision targets three objectives:
1.
to continually maintain a ratio of
capital invested (at cost)/statutory
net book value close to 100%;
2.
to increase the international exposure
of the portfolio: allocations on the
Apax Partners LLP funds rose from
€60m for the VIII fund to €138m for
the IX fund, while allocations on the
Apax Partners MidMarket funds rose
from €280m to €300m;
3.
to optimise cash management
through the flexibility offered by co-
investment.
Following the closing of theApax France
IX fund at more than €1bn in March 2017,
we increased our subscription
commitment to the €226-306m range,
allowing Altamir to maintain its 30%
stake in the fund.
Barringanymajor external developments,
we expect a strong level of business
activity in 2017, with five or six new
investments for around €80m and
divestments in the region of €100m. The
portfolio companies should continue
to perform well, with average EBITDA
growth of about 7%.
Finally, I want to highlight that our
performance, especially over the last
two years, has driven Net Asset Value to
almost €800m as of 31 December 2016,
meaning that we are on track to achieve
the critical size of €1bn in assets under
management.
We would like to thank you for your
support and for the trust you have placed
in us to implement this strategy.
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF THE MANAGEMENT COMPANY -
MAURICE TCHENIO
NET ASSET VALUE WAS ALMOST
€800M
AS OF 31 DECEMBER 2016,
MEANING WE ARE ON TRACK
TO ACHIEVE THE CRITICAL SIZE OF
€1BN
IN ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT.
2016 WAS
A RECORD YEAR
FOR ALTAMIR
IN TERMS
OF DIVESTMENTS
2016 was another excellent year for
private equity in Europe. LBO fund
activity remained at a high level, despite
falling back for the second year in
a row, both for investments, which
totalled €119bn vs. €133bn in 2015,
and for divestments through mergers/
acquisitions, which were €138.7bn vs.
€162.8bn in 2015 (source: MergerMarket).
Divestments exceeded investments for
the fifth consecutive year, especially if we
add exits by stock sales or by dividend
recapitalisation to exits by mergers/
acquisitions. Because of this, fund raising
has seen robust growth in Europe, with
$132bn raised in 2016, vs. only $97bn
in 2015, more than two-thirds of which
was raisedby LBO funds (Source: Private
Equity Analyst).
Competition for new investments
remains fierce. Large companies have
become more aggressive, and readily
available, low-cost debt is also helping
to maintain high acquisition multiples.
Against this backdrop, Altamir had an
excellent year in 2016, characterised by
significant portfolio turnover, several
value-creating build-up transactions
and very good performance from co-
investments carried out alongside the
Apax funds, notably in Marlink and
Snacks Développement.
NAV per share (including dividend)
grew by 19.2%, building on the rise of
19.1% in 2015. The main drivers behind
this strong NAV increase were the good
operating performance and acquisitions
by portfolio companies, whose EBITDA
rose on average by 18.6%.
Several portfolio companies completed
significant acquisitions that enabled
them to scale up: Groupe INSEEC (5 new
schools), THOM Europe (purchase of a
major Italian chain and a German chain),
Marlink (purchase of an Italian company),
Snacks Développement (purchase of a
UK competitor) and InfoVista (purchase
of a US company).
2016 was a record year for Altamir in
terms of divestments, with €215.7m of
transactions performed and signed,
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REGISTRATION DOCUMENT
1
ALTAMIR 2016