Business services

We invest across Europe, Asia and North America and in the last two years have committed over €1.7bn of equity to the business services sector.

The market for business services is large, diverse and is expanding rapidly, driven by economic growth and the increasing prominence of outsourcing and offshoring. 

Despite a difficult macro environment backdrop, the Business Services sector has continued to out-perform the conventional benchmarks and indices, as a result of strong earnings and margin resilience, and key defensive qualities linked to long term contract relationships. Indeed, out of the global financial and economic crisis of the last 12 months, we believe there is strong potential for leading operators within the sector to capitalise on attractive growth opportunities.

We invest globally within six broadly-defined sub-sectors:

  • White collar outsourcing: Covering a wide range of services with business process outsourcing (BPO) as its core, where successful operators use intellectual capital to build strong client relationships, a compelling brand positioning and a rounded product offering;
  • Consultancy: High skilled, high margin advisory activities, covering verticals such as environmental, nuclear, engineering and professional services;
  • Testing, inspection and certification: A highly fragmented and growing global market,   driven by globalisation of trade movements and increasing quality verification;
  • Blue collar services: Covering activities such as maintenance, repairs, facilities management, cleaning and security;
  • Distribution/Logistics: Specialist distributors who understand and adapt to clients’ needs  can earn high returns in a market where ‘commoditised’ players face continuous pressure on margins; and
  • Rental: International expansion opportunities for businesses involved in the hire of equipment and other ‘nonconsumables’, where they can achieve high levels of utilisation and charge for premium-level service.

Our partnership approach is individual and personal. It starts during the due diligence process, as we prepare to invest and continues through our equity participation up to eventual exit. At every stage we help to create a healthy successful business with sound financials and an exciting future.