Company logo
Company name	TPG Capital(formerly Texas Pacific Group)
Company type	Private Ownership
Foundation	1992
Founder	David Bonderman, James Coulter and William S. Price III
Location	Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Industry	Private Equity
Products	Leveraged buyouts, Growth capital, Venture capital
Assets	$48 billion
Homepage	http://tpg.com }}

TPG Capital (formerly Texas Pacific Group) is one of the largest private equity investment firms globally, focused on leveraged buyout, growth capital and leveraged recapitalization investments in distressed companies and turnaround situations. TPG also manages investment funds specializing in growth capital, venture capital, public equity, and debt investments. The firm invests in a broad range of industries including consumer/retail, media and telecommunications, industrials, technology, travel/leisure and health care.

The firm was founded in 1992 by David Bonderman, James Coulter and William S. Price III. Since inception, the firm has raised more than $50 billion of investor commitments across more than 18 private equity funds.

TPG is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, with more than a dozen additional offices in eight countries.

Private equity funds

TPG has historically relied primarily on private equity funds, pools of committed capital from pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, fund of funds, high net worth individuals, sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors. As of the end of 2008, TPG had completed fundraising for over 20 funds with total investor commitments of over $50 billion.

The firm manages investment funds in a number of distinct strategies including: :* TPG's flagship leveraged buyout funds :* Venture capital funds, particularly focused on biotechnology investments :* Distressed debt and other credit strategies invested through a series of funds raised in 2007 :* Asian and Latin American funds, including the firm's Newbridge and TPG Asia fund family :* Other private equity funds. This includes TPG's T3 Partners funds, which invest in technology focused deals alongside the firm's main buyout funds. TPG Star has a broad investment mandate including buyouts, venture capital and growth capital, however all of its investments are at the smaller end of the range, compared to TPG's traditional investments.

Fund	VintageYear	CommittedCapital ($m)
''TPG's Flagship Leveraged Buyout Funds''
Texas Pacific Group Partners	1994	$721
Texas Pacific Group Partners II	1997	$2,500
Texas Pacific Group Partners III	2000	$3,414
Texas Pacific Group Partners IV	2003	$5,300
Texas Pacific Group Partners V	2006	$15,000
TPG Partners VI	2008	$19,800
''Venture capital funds''
TPG Ventures	2001	$339
TPG Biotechnology Partners	2002	$70
TPG Biotechnology Partners II	2006	$402
TPG Biotechnology Partners III	2008	$550
''Distressed debt funds''
TPG Credit Management I	2007	$1,000
TPG Credit Strategies	2007	$443
''Newbridge and TPG Asia funds''
Newbridge Investment Partners	1995	$120
Newbridge Latin America	1995	$300
Newbridge Andean Partners	1996	$150
Newbridge Asia II	1998	$392
Newbridge Asia III	2001	$724
Newbridge Asia IV	2005	$1,500
TPG Asia V	2008	$4,250
''Other private equity funds''
T3 Partners	1999	$1,000
T3 Partners II	2001	$378
TPG Star	2007	$1,500

Source: Preqin

History and notable Investments

Founding

The Texas Pacific Group, as it was originally known, was founded in 1992 by David Bonderman, James Coulter and William S. Price III. Prior to founding TPG, Bonderman and Coulter had worked for Robert M. Bass making leveraged buyout investments during the 1980s. In 1993, Coulter and Bonderman partnered with William S. Price III, who was Vice President of Strategic Planning and Business Development for GE Capital to complete the buyout of Continental Airlines. At the time, TPG was virtually alone in its conviction that there was an investment opportunity with the airline. The plan included bringing in a new management team, improving aircraft utilization and focusing on lucrative routes. By 1998, TPG had generated an annual internal rate of return of 55% on its investment.

Texas Pacific Group in the late 1990s

In 1997, TPG completed fundraising for its second private equity fund, with over $2.5 billion of investor commitments. In June 1996, TPG acquired the AT&T; Paradyne unit, a multimedia communications business, from Lucent Technologies for $175 million. Also in 1996, TPG invested in Beringer Wine, Ducati Motorcycles and Del Monte Foods.

TPG's most notable 1997 investment was its takeover of J. Crew. TPG acquired an 88% stake in the retailer for approximately $500 million, however the investment struggled due to the relatively high purchase price paid relative to the company's earnings. The company was able to complete a turnaround beginning in 2002 and complete an initial public offering in 2006.

The following year, in 1998, TPG led an investor group in a minority investment in Oxford Health Plans. TPG and its co-investors invested $350 million in a convertible preferred stock that can be converted into 22.1% of Oxford. The company completed a buyback of the TPG's PIPE convertible in 2000 and would ultimately be acquired by UnitedHealth Group in 2004.

As the decade came to a close, TPG was once again fundraising, for its third private equity fund. This time, however TPG was raising not only a new buyout fund, but also a new fund, T3 Partners that would invest alongside the main fund in technology oriented investments. In 1999, TPG invested in Piaggio S.p.A, Bally International (including Bally Shoe), and ON Semiconductor.

Texas Pacific Group in the early 2000s

In 2000, TPG and Leonard Green & Partners invested $200 million to acquire Petco, the pet supplies retailer as part of a $600 million buyout. Within two years they sold most of it in a public offering that valued the company at $1 billion. Petco’s market value more than doubled by the end of 2004 and the firms would ultimately realize a gain of $1.2 billion. Then, in 2006, the private equity firms took Petco private again for $1.68 billion.

That same year, in 2000, TPG completed the controversial acquisition of Gemplus SA, one of the leading smart card manufacturers. TPG won a struggle with the company's founder, Marc Lassus, for control of the company. Also in 2000, TPG completed an investment in Seagate Technology.

In 2001, TPG acquired Telenor Media, a Norwegian phone-directory company, for $660m, and shortly thereafter acquired a controlling interest in the third largest silicon-wafer maker MEMC Electronic Materials.

In July 2002, TPG, together with Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, announced the high profile $2.3 billion leveraged buyout of Burger King from Diageo. However, in November the original transaction collapsed, when Burger King failed to meet certain performance targets. In December 2002, TPG and its co-investors agreed on a reduced $1.5 billion purchase price for the investment. The TPG consortium had support from Burger King's franchisees, who controlled approximately 92% of Burger King restaurants at the time of the transaction. Under its new owners, Burger King underwent a major brand overhaul including the use of The Burger King character in advertising. In February 2006, Burger King announced plans for an initial public offering.

In November 2003, TPG provided a proposal to buy Portland General Electric from Enron. However, concerns about debt and local politics led to Oregon's Public Utilities Commission regulators to deny permission for the purchase March 10, 2005.

TPG ventured into the film business in late 2004 in the major leveraged buyout of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. A consortium led by TPG and Sony completed the $4.81 billion buyout of the film studio. The consortium also included media-focused firms Providence Equity Partners and Quadrangle Group as well as DLJ Merchant Banking Partners. The transaction, which was announced in September 2004, was completed in early 2005.

Also in 2005, TPG was one of seven private equity firms involved in the buyout of SunGard in a transaction valued at $11.3 billion. TPG's partners in the acquisition were Silver Lake Partners, Bain Capital, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Providence Equity Partners, and The Blackstone Group. This represented the largest leveraged buyout completed since the takeover of RJR Nabisco at the end of the 1980s leveraged buyout boom. Also, at the time of its announcement, SunGard would be the largest buyout of a technology company in history, a distinction it would cede to the buyout of Freescale Semiconductor. The SunGard transaction is also notable in the number of firms involved in the transaction, the largest club deal completed to that point. The involvement of seven firms in the consortium was criticized by investors in private equity who considered cross-holdings among firms to be generally unattractive.

TPG and 2006-2007 Buyout Boom

In early 2006, as TPG was completing fundraising for its fifth private equity fund and the buyout boom was entering full swing, TPG co-founder Bill Price announced that he would scale back his work at the firm to focus on personal pursuits including his holdings in wine vineyards.

On December 1, 2006, it was announced TPG and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts had been exploring the possibility of a record $100 billion leveraged buyout of the second-largest retailer in the U.S. Home Depot. Although this massive buyout was never actually completed, TPG was a leading investor during the 2006-2008 buyout boom, completing some of the largest transactions in this period.

Investment	Year	Company Description	Ref.
Neiman Marcus	2005	TPG, together with Warburg Pincus acquired Neiman Marcus Group, the owner of luxury retailers Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, in a $5.1 billion buyout in May 2005.
Freescale Semiconductor	2006	TPG together with The Blackstone Group, The Carlyle Group and Permira completed the $17.6 billion takeover of the semiconductor company. At the time of its announcement, Freescale would be the largest leveraged buyout of a technology company ever, surpassing the 2005 buyout of SunGard.
Harrah's Entertainment	2006	On December 19, 2006, TPG and Apollo Management announced an agreement to acquire the gaming company for $27.4 billion, including the assumption of existing debt.
Sabre Holdings	2006	TPG and Silver Lake Partners announced a deal to buy Sabre Holdings, which operates Travelocity, Sabre Travel Network and Sabre Airline Solutions, for approximately $4.3 billion in cash, plus the assumption of $550 million in debt. Earlier in the year, Blackstone acquired Sabre's chief competitor Travelport.
Univision Communications	2006	A consortium of TPG, Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Haim Saban (Saban Entertainment) acquired The Spanish language broadcaster on March 12, 2006 in a $13.7 billion leveraged buyout. The buyout left the company with a debt level of twelve times its annual cash flow.
Alltel Wireless	2007	TPG and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners announced the acquisition of Alltel Wireless in a $27 billion buyout in May 2007. The transaction was approved by the Federal Communications Commission and closed on November 16, 2007. However just over six months later, on June 5, 2008, TPG and Goldman agreed to sell Alltel to Verizon for slightly more than it had paid for the company amidst a deteriorating economic outlook.
Avaya	2007	TPG and Silver Lake Partners completed an $8.2 billion leveraged buyout of the enterprise telephony and call center technology company that was formerly a unit of Lucent Technologies
Biomet	2007	TPG, The Blackstone Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners acquired the medical devices company for $11.6 billion.
First Data	2007	TPG and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts completed the $29 billion buyout of the credit and debit card payment processor and former parent of Western Union. Michael Capellas, previously the CEO of MCI Communications and Compaq was named CEO of the privately held company.
Midwest Air Group	2007	On August 12, 2007 Agreed to purchase Midwest Air Group and its subsidiaries including Midwest Airlines ending the hostile takeover attempt by AirTran Airways. Northwest Airlines also invested in the transaction alongside TPG as a passive equity co-investor. On August 14, 2007 Increased its offer to purchase Midwest after a late attempt by Airtran to increase its bid for Midwest. The purchase price was $452 million. Midwest lost money during TPG's ownership having to accept a loan from Republic Airways Holdings to avoid bankruptcy. Republic took over Midwest's fleet. Eventually TPG sold the company to Republic for $31 million.
Surgical Care Affiliates	2007	In June 2007, TPG completed the carveout of HealthSouth Corporation's ambulatory surgery business for $920 million
TXU	2007	An investor group, led by TPG and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and together with Goldman Sachs Capital Partners completed the $44.37 billion buyout of the regulated utility and power producer. The investor group had to work closely with ERCOT regulators to gain approval of the transaction but had significant experience with the regulators from their earlier buyout of Texas Genco. TXU is the largest buyout in history, and retained this distinction when the announced buyout of BCE failed to close in December 2008. The deal is also notable for a drastic change in environmental policy for the energy giant, in terms of its carbon emissions from coal power plants and funding alternative energy.

In early 2007, the firm, officially changed its name to TPG Capital, rebranding all of its funds across different geographies. The firm's Asian funds, which had historically been managed by TPG Newbridge, a joint venture with Blum Capital.

TPG and the Credit Crisis

On April 7, 2008, TPG leads a $7 billion investment in Washington Mutual. On September 25, 2008, Washington Mutual is taken over by the government costing TPG a 1.35 Billion dollar investment.

On 12 March 2010, Gretchen Morgensen in the ''New York Times'' discussed TPG's role as a private equity investor in Greek mobile phone operator Wind Hellas, formerly TIM Hellas, which filed for bankruptcy protection late last year. Morgensen raises some interesting questions about the circumstances in which TPG and fellow private equity investors Apax Partners of London redeemed a significant quantity of "convertible preferred equity certificates" held by them to repay their own "deeply subordinated shareholder loans" during a period in which a significant and apparently unexplained spike occurred in the market value of the certificates.

Newbridge Capital

In 1994, TPG, Blum Capital and ACON Investments created Newbridge Capital, a joint-venture to invest in emerging markets, particularly Asia and later Latin America. At its peak, Newbridge managed over $3.2 billion. Newbridge was headquartered alongside TPG in Fort Worth and San Francisco with investment offices across the Asia-Pacific region in Hong Kong, Melbourne, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo. In 1995, Newbridge also ventured into Latin America, raising a $300 million fund and then a follow up $150 million fund in 1996. After its debut funds in the mid 1990s, Newbridge did not continue to focus on Latin America.

Since its founding, Newbridge developed a specialization in five broad industry groups: financial services, technology and telecom, healthcare, consumer, and industrials. Newbridge was involved in a number of the largest and most notable private equity transactions in Asia including:

Shenzhen Development Bank - the first control purchase of a Chinese national bank by a foreign entity since 1949

Korea First Bank - the first foreign acquisition of a South Korean bank

Hanaro Telecom - a major Asian proxy contest, that was the largest at that time

Matrix Laboratories - the largest private equity transaction in the Indian pharmaceutical industry, to that point

In the early 2000s, TPG assumed full ownership and control over the Newbridge joint venture, renaming the firm TPG Newbridge. At the beginning of 2007, when the firm officially changed its name from Texas Pacific Group to TPG Capital, TPG Newbridge's Asian funds were also rebranded as the TPG Asia Funds.

TPG remained active in Asia in 2008. On August 4, TPG, along with Global Infrastructure Partners, offered to buy Asciano Limited for AUD 2.9 billion in an unsuccessful attempt to complete an unsolicited takeover. On October 31, 2008 TPG completed the purchase of a 35% interest in P.T. Bumi Resources, from its previous owner Bakrie & Brothers, Indonesia, for $1.3 billion.

Recognition

During 2005 and 2006, TPG was recognized by several members of the media for its performance. The firm was called "Firm of the Year" by Buyouts Magazine.; "Best Global Firm of the Year" by Euromoney Magazine "North American Large Cap Private Equity Firm of the Year" by Global Finance Magazine

TPG-Newbridge was named "Best Firm of the Year" by the Asia Venture Forum.

Notable Current and Former Employees

Kevin Rollins - former President & CEO of Dell Computers

Bernard Attali, former chairman of Air France and brother of Jacques Attali

Vivek Paul, former Vice Chairman of Wipro Technologies and CEO of its global information technology, product engineering, and business process services segments

Mary Ma - Former CFO of Lenovo, and was listed in the top ten of the Fortune "50 Most Powerful Women" in 2005 and 2006.

References

Texas Pacific Group Inc. - Company History. Funding Universe

Texas Pacific Goes Where Others Fear to Spend. New York Times, August 25, 2002

TPG Profile at Yahoo.com

External links

Category:Private equity firms Category:Financial services companies of the United States Category:Privately held companies of the United States Category:Companies based in Fort Worth, Texas Category:TPG Capital

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