[Financial Review]: Happy day for Alceon’s PE backers as Nido lists
Australian Financial Review
Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood, Emma Rapaport
Oct 17, 2023
Ex-Think Childcare boss Mat Edwards’ latest IPO, Nido, has sent cheers through Sydney firm Alceon Private Equity’s investors.
Street Talk understands Nido, which commenced trading on the ASX on Monday after a $99 million bookbuild, delivered a net 80 per cent internal rate of return to Alceon’s investors. Nido is the year’s second-biggest listing so far, and debuted with AustralianSuper as its largest investor.
The returns and the backing from Australia’s largest superannuation fund – delivered against a tough IPO market – are a vote of confidence for Alceon PE dealmakers Zac Midalia and David Wilshire. The duo took reins in 2020 and Nido is their first exit.
The private equity firm raised $44 million in mid-2022 to form a childcare JV with Nido. It has now raised $30 million to fund a new incubator, which would be managed by Nido. Lastly, its internal hedge fund, Alceon Liquid Strategies, took a slice of the IPO.
“The returns come down to the fact that every deal lives in its own structure rather than [being] co-mingled with a mixed bag of companies within a fund. This means that the Alceon team can optimise the deal to suit both the needs of the founder and the right risk return parameters for the investors,” Midalia said.
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