BC Partners

BC Partners LLP is a British^[5] international investment firm with over $40 billion of assets under management across private equity, credit and real estate in Europe and North America.^[4] Its global headquarters are in London. The firm invests across all industries. BC Partners was founded in 1986 and has offices in New York, Paris and Hamburg.^[6] Since inception, BC Partners has completed 113 private equity investments in companies with a total enterprise value of €145 billion.^[7]

BC Partners LLP

Company type	Private
Industry	Private equity
Predecessor	Baring Capital Investors
Founded	1986; 39 years ago (1986)
Founder	Otto van der Wyck
Headquarters	London (Global)
Key people	Raymond Svider[1] Nikos Stathopoulos[2] Jean-Baptiste Wautier[3]
Products	Private Equity, Credit, Real Estate
AUM	$40+ billion[4]
Number of employees	~190
Website	www.bcpartners.com

As one of the largest European private equity firms, BC Partners competes for buyouts and investment opportunities with other large cap private equity firms including Blackstone Group, KKR, CVC Capital Partners, Advent International and The Carlyle Group.^[8][9] The firm raised its eighth fund in 2005, which at the time made it the largest European buyout fund. Raised in less than five months, the fund was heavily oversubscribed. Investors in previous funds supplied 90% of the capital.^[10] The firm's most recent fund, BC Partners X, was one of the largest buyout funds raised in 2018.^[11]

BC Partners was until recently majority shareholder of Intelsat, the global satellite services provider valued at US$16.6 billion in its leveraged buyout in 2007—one of the largest private equity buyouts of all time led by a consortium of investors including BC Partners and Silver Lake Partners. In 2008, BC Partners replaced Intelsat's chairman with Raymond Svider, BC's New York–based co-chairman.^[12] Sometime between 2008 and 2018, BC Partners sold all of Intelsat to the company.

In August 2025, the firm attracted international scrutiny after leaked recordings showed executives of its portfolio company United Group discussing cooperation with state-owned Telekom Srbija and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in ways that could weaken United Media, the country’s last major independent broadcaster.^[13]

History

The firm, founded in 1986 as Baring Capital Investors Ltd. by Otto van der Wyck, who was also a co-founder of CVC Capital Partners. Originally, BC Partners was formed by Barings to advise funds providing development capital, in particular for management buyouts. John Burgess joined him from Candover, the US and UK buyout house, a month after.^[14] The principals of Baring Capital Investors completed a spinout of what would become BC Partners following the collapse of Barings in 1995.^[15] Van der Wyck left the firm in 2001, and has held senior roles with firms including Coller Capital, Climate Change Capital and AlpInvest Partners.

Raised / Announced Fund	Vintage Year	Fund Size (USD)
BC Partners X	2017	€7.0 billion[11][16]
BC Partners IX	2011	€6.7 billion[17][16]
BC Partners VIII	2005	€5.9 billion [18]
BC Partners VII	2000	€4.3 billion[19]
BC Partners VI	1998	€1.1 billion
BC Partners V	1994	€450 million

Significant transactions

Washington D.C. headquarters of BC Partners-owned satellite operator Intelsat

One of BC Partners-owned Migros Türk retail stores. The company is Turkey's leading supermarket chain.

As of December 31, 2019,^[update] BC Partners portfolio includes 114 companies with aggregate sales revenue of €145 billion.^[20] BC Partners can commit over $2.75 billion (€2.0 billion) of equity to any single transaction. The firm's most successful and profitable realized investments include General Healthcare (leading acute care hospital provider and independent provider of psychiatric care), C&C Group plc (leading seller of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages), Galbani (market-leading cheese company) and Phones 4u (leading mobile phone provider in the UK - until its bankruptcy in September 2014).

In June 2013, BC Partners agreed to buy German publisher Springer Science+Business Media for about 3.3 billion euros.^[21]

BC Partners revealed in January 2015 that it would sell its 40.25 percent stake in its supermarket chain Migros Türk to the Turkish conglomerate Anadolu Endustri Holding AS for around $2.74 billion.^[22]

In June 2019 Chewy, which was acquired by BC Partners in 2017, and is the online pet retailer division of PetSmart, announced its IPO on the NYSE when it was valued at $8.8 billion.^[23]

In 2019, BC Partners announced their backing for the acquisition^[24] (via the United Group) of Vivacom, the largest Bulgarian telecom. The acquisition became an issue of the media and legal dispute with the company's previous owner, Empreno Ventures, which asked BC Partners^[25] to wait until judicial resolution.

On November 7, BC Partners was added to a lawsuit by Empreno seeking to ban the sale of Vivacom.^[26]

In early 2021, the firm entered into talks with Inter Milan owner Suning about potentially buying the football club.^[27]

Year	Company name	Description of BC Partners Transaction[28]
2022	Fedrigoni	US$3.0 billion for 50% stake [29]
2022	Havea Group	US$1.1 billion (approx.)[30]
2018	GFL Environmental	CAD$5.1 billion for majority stake in waste services company GFL Environmental.[31]
2018	United Group	€2.6 billion for majority stake in telecom provider United Group.[32]
2018	Navex Global	Acquisition of ethics and compliance software and services company NAVEX Global from Vista Equity Partners[33]
2017	Chewy	$3.4 billion for the e-commerce company specializing in pet products — largest e-commerce acquisition in history [34]
2016	CenturyLink	$2.3 billion acquisition of data center operations.[35]
2016	Keter	€1.4 billion for the acquisition of global manufacturer of quality resin consumer products[36]
2016	Elysium Healthcare	£360 million for the acquisition of a portfolio of mental health hospitals from Partnerships in Care and the Priory Group[37]
2014	Cartrawler	Car rental technology platform bought from ECI Partners[38]
2014	PetSmart	$8.7 billion acquisition of pet services and products vendor[39]
2013	Acuris	Acquisition of MergerMarket, now called Acuris, news service from Pearson plc[40]
2012	Sullair Milton Roy Sundyne	$3.4 billion LBO of industrial business engaged in the design, manufacture and supply of specialist pumps and compressors[41]
2012	Suddenlink	$6.5 billion LBO of 7th largest cable communications system operator in the US;[42] sale of 70% interest in Suddenlink held by BC and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for $9.1 Bn announced in May 2015[43]
2011	Phones 4u	Bought for £700 million; entered into administration on 15 September 2014[44][45]
2011	Com Hem	Largest LBO in Europe in 2011[46]
2010	MultiPlan	$3.1 billion LBO of provider of health care cost management services
2009	Office Depot	provider of office products and services
2008	SGB-SMIT Group	Manufacturer of transformers (sold in 2017)
2008	Migros Türk	Turkey's leading supermarket chain
2008	Intelsat	$16.6 billion acquisition of fixed satellite service provider
2007	Foxtons	UK estate agency, bought at the top of the property market in May 2007 for £370 million[47] In December 2009, BC Partners lost control of Foxtons, less than three years after buying it, after creditors reorganized the real estate broker's debt.[48]
2006	Brenntag	Second largest LBO in Germany to date
2006	Regency Entertainment	Largest public-to-private LBO in Greece to date
2005	Amadeus IT Group	Largest LBO in Spain to date
2004	Picard	Largest LBO in France that year
2003	SEAT PG	Largest LBO in Europe at the time
2002	Hirslanden	Largest LBO in Switzerland that year
2001	Sanitec	Largest public to private LBO in Finland to date
2000	Mark IV	Largest LBO in the US by a European sponsor at the time

United Group recordings controversy

In August 2025, BC Partners’ portfolio company United Group became the subject of public scrutiny in Serbia following the publication of leaked recordings of its chief executive officer, Stan Miller. The recordings, published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), revealed discussions between Miller and Vladimir Lučić, the director of state-owned Telekom Srbija, about strategies that could weaken United Media, a subsidiary of United Group and the last major independent broadcaster in the country.^[49]

The recordings also included references to United Media’s long-time director, Aleksandra Subotić. In the conversation, Miller stated that he could not yet dismiss Subotić, while adding that he understood President Aleksandar Vučić had called Lučić and was upset about the delay. Miller also said he needed to “make [the company] very small in Serbia” and to separate it, referring to restructuring plans that would affect United Media. He further mentioned the need to accelerate arrangements with banks and an escrow account in order to facilitate the process.^[50]

The recordings also showed Miller referring to Nikos Stathopoulos, chairman of BC Partners, suggesting that awareness of the talks extended beyond local management to the main shareholder level.^[51] United Group subsequently confirmed the authenticity of the recordings, while stating that the conversations were taken out of context.^[52]

The incident sparked concerns among media-freedom advocates, given the close ties between Telekom Srbija and Vučić’s government. Analysts suggested that the controversy raised questions about BC Partners’ stewardship of its media assets in the region and whether investor interests were being adequately safeguarded. Commentators also noted that the conversations were unusual because Telekom Srbija is a direct competitor of United Group and United Media in the Serbian telecommunications and media market.^[53] Media analysts and press freedom advocates interpreted the recordings as evidence of political pressure aimed at bringing Serbia’s last major independent broadcaster under closer government influence, with BC Partners’ management appearing to cooperate in the process.^[54]