Palamon case study

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Rev. Feb. 12, 2014

PALAMON CAPITAL PARTNERS/TEAMSYSTEM S.P.A.

We want to make money by investing in change.
—Louis Elson, Managing Partner, Palamon

In February 2000, Louis Elson looked over the London skyline and reflected on the international private equity industry and the investment processes that would be necessary for success in this increasingly competitive field. Elson, a managing partner of the UK-based private equity firm Palamon Capital …show more content…

Large investment banks such as Dresdner, Deutsche Bank, and
Banca de Roma also had notable private equity presences.

Louis Elson and Palamon Capital Partners
Louis Elson began working in private equity in 1990, when he joined E.M. Warburg,
Pincus & Co. Soon after joining the firm, he began focusing on European transactions and, in
1992, decided to relocate permanently to Europe. Elson became a partner of Warburg, Pincus in
1995 and was an integral part of a team that built a (U.S. dollars) USD1.3 billion portfolio of equity investments for the firm. The portfolio contained more than 40 investments in seven different European countries. In late 1998, Elson and another of his partners, Michael Hoffman, saw a unique window of opportunity in the European private equity industry. They believed that the European economic landscape was changing in a way that benefited smaller, middle-market companies. Therefore, Elson and Hoffman recruited two additional partners and began laying the foundation for what would eventually become Palamon Capital Partners.
By August 1999, Elson and Hoffman had raised a fund of EUR440 million. They accomplished that despite macroeconomic obstacles like the Russian debt default by marketing their unique pan-European private equity experience. With the fund closed, Elson and Hoffman grew the Palamon team to nine professionals. They hired people with experience in private equity, investment banking, corporate