18-07-2025
Bridgepoint returns £2.6bn to investors
The owner of Burger King UK has shrugged off reports of indigestion in parts of the private equity industry, saying it was confident of 'a strong pipeline' of planned exits over the next 18 months.
Bridgepoint returned €2.6 billion to fundholders by successfully crystallising investments in private companies in the first half and expects to achieve 'multiple exits' in the second half and in 2026, it said.
Alongside Burger King's master franchise for Britain, Bridgepoint's investments also include a cruise holidays booking platform and Cambridge Education Group, the private schools operator. Outside the UK, its assets include Rovensa, a Spanish agricultural biotech business, and Vermaat, the Dutch restaurants and catering group.
Bridgepoint reports results in sterling, assets in dollars and some fundraisings in euros. It posted a 39 per cent fall in pro forma pre-tax profits to £60.6 million in the first six months of 2025, after adjusting for the £835 million acquisition of the energy infrastructure fund manager Energy Capital Partners (ECP) last year. Assets under management increased by 20 per cent to $86.6 billion.
Some private equity groups are struggling to exit investments through flotations because of a lack of appetite from listed world investors and are increasingly relying on trade sales and so-called secondary deals — passing on businesses to another private equity house or just switching them to a new fund.
Raoul Hughes, chief executive, said that while the backdrop was 'challenging', Bridgepoint rarely opted for flotations, the last mainstream one being Safestore in 2007. He said he expected to announce some asset sales imminently, while others were still being dusted off.
'We're getting them ready,' he said. He detected strong potential buyer interest and 'at good earnings multiples', adding: 'Buyer appetite is there.'
Bridgepoint, a member of the FTSE 250, traces its roots to the private equity division of NatWest. It floated in 2021 and manages assets including private credit and energy projects as well as its mainstream private equity division, which specialises in mid-sized companies in Britain and Europe.
The group also announced good progress in raising fresh funds from new and existing clients. It was confident of meeting its target of €24 billion by the end of 2026. Hughes said the tilt towards Europe and away from the US since the Trump 'liberation day' tariffs shock should increase appetite for European private equity.
He was pleased by the performance of ECP in its first year under Bridgepoint ownership. While there were headwinds from the decline in values of renewable energy assets, the division was well positioned to take advantage of the push to modernise America's electricity supply infrastructure.
The shares slipped 4¾p, or 1.4 per cent, to 350p in afternoon trading on Friday. Bridgepoint was floated at a 350p issue price but investors have had a shaky ride after the shares dropped to as low as 169p in 2023.
Analysts at Investec said it was 'overall a strong first half'. An interim dividend of 4.7p was in line with expectations, with Bridgepoint guiding to a final payout of at least 4.7p as well.
