Bridgepoint may try on jewellery retailer Histoire d'Or

Silverfleet, which rebranded from PPM Capital two years ago when it became independent from banking, insurance and pensions firm Prudential, entered the investment in February 2006 in a secondary buy-out.

A group of investors led by global private equity firm Apax Partners sold the jeweller to Silverfleet for €230m, and now it looks as though it will be passed on once again, this time to Bridgepoint.

Histoire d'Or retails gold, silver and costume jewellery, including watches, via a network of stores primarily situated in shopping centres throughout France, with some in city centres.

Since Silverfleet bought into the company it has expanded by opening more than 60 new outlets.

The secondary buy-out market is bustling, with rival private equity sponsors passing companies on to each other at a rate not seen for a decade, according to Dealogic.

The pass-the-parcel deal-type constitutes a hefty 35 per cent of all transactions so far this year, though this may have a detrimental impact on investors’ returns. If the first fund to buy into a business derives as much value as possible through operational improvements, there is less headroom for later buyers to gain further value.

Unfortunately for private equity, given the scant level of leverage on offer from banks compared to three years ago, debt alone cannot be relied upon to drive investment returns in the post-recession recovery.  

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