N&Q: Family office news/deals; private equity/family business deals

Family office deals

PremjiInvest, the family office of Azim Premji, one of India’s best-known businessman, has invested in an Indian affordable accommodation supplier called Shubham Housing Development Finance Company. PremjiInvest was one of five investors in a Series D financing round for the Haryana-based housing group.

Family-backed Tengelmann Ventures has invested in a Swiss luxury watch group called CHRONEXT. Tengelmann participated in a Series D investment worth $34 million with one other investor.

The Duke of Bedford, one of the UK’s wealthiest aristocrats, along with Tim Disney, the great-nephew of Walt Disney, have backed a US-based biotech group called Skyhawk Therapeutics. The two helped to seed the group with an $8 million investment

Family office compensation survey

A compensation survey has found that nearly half of family offices offer senior staff co-investment opportunities as part of their compensation package. Overall, more than 60% of family offices use some form of long-term incentives (LTI); 87% of family offices with more than $1 billion in assets under management use LTI plans. Co-investment and carried interest are the most common LTI plans used; this suggests that families are using long-term incentives to create alignment with executives and investment staff, said the study. More details here.

Private equity/family business deals

Blackstone has bought an 80% stake in La Trobe Financial, a family-owned Australian home loan and aged care lender. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Staying in Australia, confectionery maker Darrell Lea has been sold for about A$200 million to a Sydney-based Quadrant Private Equity. Darrell Lea was owned by Tony and Christina Quinn, who bought the business in 2012 from the family who had owned it since its launch in 1927.

Carlyle Group is among a group of high-profile private equity groups vying to buy a stake in the Indian family-owned Mankind Pharmaceuticals. Reports suggest Carlyle is leading the race to buy a 15% stake in Mankind from the Juneja family who control 89% of the billion dollars pharmaceutical company.