Building successful, long-term partnerships alongside visionary founders and dynamic management teams
Partner with the Westbrooke Equity Partners Advantage.
about westbrooke equity partners
Westbrooke Equity Partners is an active shareholder, building platform investments through controlling stakes in lower mid-market private businesses both in South Africa and the UK while partnering with exceptional, entrepreneurially minded management teams.
Funded through permanent shareholder capital, Westbrooke Equity Partners has a demonstrated, multi-decade private equity track record, having invested in multiple industries including retail, FMCG, industrial, commercial value-add distribution and manufacturing. Over two decades Westbrooke has achieved an IRR in excess of 40% and a 10 x multiple on capital invested on its private equity investments.
Key to delivering these returns is Westbrooke Equity Partners’ active management approach, which leverages our heritage as a shareholder and operator of assets to provide value-added strategic support to our investee businesses and their underlying subsidiaries.
Westbrooke Equity Partners is sector agnostic, following a characteristic based investment strategy. Potential investments must operate a structurally advantaged business model, delivering high returns on assets and strong cash flow and often operate in niche, fragmented industries where we are able to drive market consolidation, enhance competitive advantages and increase barriers to entry.
In addition, through the Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management UK Private Equity platform, we have the ability to invest in businesses where we will not be the controlling shareholder or lead sponsor, or where the investment does not support the building of a platform asset.
Why Westbrooke Equity Partners?
- proven, multi-decade track record of building successful partnerships
- our heritage as an owner and operator of assets allows us to see risk and growth potential differently
- deeply skilled and experienced investment team who move quickly and are comfortable dealing with complexity
- active management approach, adding value through our substantial investment, strategic, operational and capital markets experience
- we invest materially alongside management and clients, ensuring total alignment
The Westbrooke Equity Partners Advantage
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We embody a partnership-led, action-orientated, entrepreneurial and innovative culture, where our partners deal directly with the key decision makers. Bureaucracy and red tape are reduced to a minimum, allowing us to be agile and flexible. We expect our partners to have material financial investments in their businesses, aligning our interests and creating sustainable shared value for all stakeholders.
We are experienced business builders and operators with a multi-decade track record.
We seek to play a key strategic role in our investments, whilst allowing our operating partners total operational autonomy.
We have deep industry and commercial expertise, enhanced by the financial resources to support organic and acquisitive growth. This has been key in building successful platforms.
We work with management to build an investment-led strategic plan and framework.
We have extensive and sophisticated capital markets experience.
We assist in corporatising investee businesses without suffocating them, allowing them to remain nimble and agile.
We work with our management partners to build a robust capital allocation framework, including investment in new products, geographies, digital systems and processes, marketing and brand, people and logistics support and infrastructure.
We have a track record of successfully partnering with management to transform good, privately owned businesses into industry-leading companies.
Unlike traditional third-party funded private equity managers, we are funded by permanent capital, invest for the long-term and do not have exit timing pressure. We are flexible in how to monetise and extract value from investments, although our intention is to own our investments for the long term.
We support our investments with follow-on capital for organic and acquisitive growth, including being a shareholder of reference for debt financing providers.
We prefer modest gearing, relying on growth in profitability and quality aspects of the business as well as cash generation to deliver our required returns.
Through the wider Westbrooke Group, we provide capital across the capital structure, including debt and mezzanine financing, to support our clients and deliver solutions that meet their needs
our team
- Robert Grieve
- Duncan le Grange
- Martin Sacks
- Lawrence Barnett
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Rob is the head of Westbrooke Private Equity UK and is based at Westbrooke’s office in London. Before joining Westbrooke, Rob was a partner at RMB.
Rob also has extensive investment banking experience having previously worked at Macquarie Capital and Investec Bank in South Africa.
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Duncan is the head of Westbrooke Private Equity South Africa and is based at Westbrooke’s office in Johannesburg.
Duncan joined Westbrooke in 2006 and has extensive experience in acquiring, building and managing private companies across a range of industries.
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Martin is the Executive Chairman and founder of the Westbrooke Group and is also Chairman and Non-Executive Director of Westbrooke’s subsidiaries and associates.
Prior to founding the Westbrooke Group in 2004, Martin co-founded and led several businesses.
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Lawrence is the Managing Director of the Westbrooke Group which includes its principal and asset management activities.
Before joining Westbrooke, Lawrence was at Investec in South Africa where he ran multiple businesses including Private Capital and the Principal Investments (Private Equity) divisions, where he led multiple deals and sat on the Board as the bank’s representative.
