Ex-Mount Kellett exec in $500m Europe raise – Exclusive

Nick Weber, the former head of Europe for the private equity firm Mount Kellett, has launched value add and opportunistic investment management platform Henderson Park with the backing of another private equity firm, Stone Point Capital, and Kuwaiti investors Kuwait Investment Authority and Wafra Investment Advisory Group.

There is a new entrant to Europe’s private equity real estate market, PERE can reveal.

Nick Weber, a former Goldman Sachs executive and senior private equity partner, has launched London-based private equity real estate business Henderson Park after receiving backing from Greenwich, Connecticut-based private equity firm Stone Point Capital, sovereign wealth fund Kuwait Investment Authority, and New York and Kuwait-based investment manager, Wafra Investment Advisory Group.

Weber was previously head of Europe for Mount Kellett, the private equity business led by fellow Goldman Sachs veteran investor Mark McGoldrick. After some ill-fated energy-related investments, Mount Kellett agreed a co-management operation with fellow New York investment manager Fortress Investment Group around which time Weber departed to form his own business.

Weber declined to comment on his time at Mount Kellett. However it is understood that among the firm’s real estate deals, returns generated from its European outlays were among the highest. PERE understands from market sources that thanks to investments in assets including the mezzanine debt behind London’s City Point Tower and the acquisition of Jurys Inn hotels group, Mount Kellett was able to generate an aggregate return of more than 25 percent from its European outlays and a more than 2x equity multiple.

Looking forward, Weber told PERE that Henderson Park would continue to seek “value-add and opportunistic returns” on behalf of the three investors, predominantly through “off market deal flow”. “We have capital that we can deploy across a pretty wide variety of deals and returns, depending on the risks we see in the transactions. We have very flexible capital that can back top operating partners in deals.”

According to Weber, Henderson Park is evaluating as much as $2 billion of transactions across Europe via the platform, from which it is expected the first transactions should materialize in the next two months. Included in the pipeline are potential investments in the UK, France, Spain and the Nordics. Deal sizes will vary, but typical transactions are expected to be between $50 million and $150 million of equity each, although equity investments of $20 million or more will be considered.

On the slate are both assets and company investments as well as debt acquisitions. The firm will consider a wide spectrum of property types, ranging from staple assets like offices and retail, to more alternative classes such as healthcare or student housing. The firm will seek to create value via capital expenditure, active asset management and capital restructuring.