Apax Global Alpha Q4 2024 Earnings Report

Apax Global Alpha EPS Results

• Actual EPS: GBX 1.72
• Consensus EPS: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Apax Global Alpha Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: N/A
• Expected Revenue: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Apax Global Alpha Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q4 2024
• Date: 3/4/2025
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Tuesday, March 4, 2025
• Conference Call Time: 4:30AM ET

AGA offers access to a diversified portfolio of high-quality companies by investing in Private Equity Funds advised by Apax. These companies are identified and selected by the Apax team, leveraging their deep sector insights, and drawing on the firm’s 50-year experience. Capital not currently invested in Private Equity is deployed into a portfolio of debt investments to generate income towards the dividend and additional returns.

Apax Global Alpha Q4 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Presentation

[Operator]

morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to APAC's Global Alpha twenty twenty four full year results. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode and the team will answer the questions at the end of the call. If you wish to ask a question, please submit them via the Q and A box, which can be found at the bottom of the screen by clicking on

[Operator]

the Q and A. Questions can be submitted at any time during the webinar. Please note, you will be unable to submit a

[Operator]

question through the Q and A box if you have dialed in using a mobile or landline, but you can send questions via email to investor. Relations Thank

[Operator]

you.

[Operator]

Hello and good morning everyone. Thanks

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

Thank you. Hello and good morning everyone. Thanks for joining APACS Global Alpha's twenty twenty four full year results presentation. My name is Ralf Gross. I'm a partner at APACS and a member of AGA's Investment Committee.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

With me today is Salim Nasoo. Salim is also a member of AGA's Investment Committee as well as a member of the Investment Committees of the Global Buyout Funds, the Apex Digital Fund and Apex Global Impact. I I hope to give you an overview of AGA's portfolio and the performance in the year ending thirty one December twenty twenty four. Salim will then cover the private equity portfolio in more detail before we open up for questions. At thirty one December twenty twenty four, AGA's NAV was about EUR 1,230,000,000.00, which translates to EUR 2.51 or EUR 2.08 per share.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

Total NAV return per share for the year was 0.8%, which is clearly disappointing and I will discuss the key drivers of this over the next few pages. In the year, AGA returned million to investors via dividends and buybacks. The dividends paid in the year equate to a dividend yield of 7.8% against the thirty one December twenty twenty four share price. Turning to the next page, as I mentioned, total NAV return per share was broadly flat at 0.8% in euro terms or negative 3% on a constant currency basis. Importantly, the three core APAC sectors of tech, services and internet consumer all contributed positively to NAV growth, albeit consumer and cyclically exposed portfolio companies experienced some slowdown during the year.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

The main driver of the subject performance in 2024, however, were challenges in the remaining retail and healthcare investments. In particular the write down of VIA across both the private equity net portfolios. Having said that, we believe that the issues that have impacted performance in the last three years now appear in the rearview mirror And I will speak more about this over the next few pages. With regards to investment activity, there has been a pickup in both investment and exit activity at the Apex Funds. The Apex eleven fund to which AGA has a commitment of approximately $700,000,000 has signed a total of 10 investments to the end of twenty twenty four.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

A new investment in KRON RESNIG announced just last week, bringing APAC's 11 to 40% invested and committed to the 11 investments. Similarly, there has also been an increased pace of realizations in the portfolio with a total of nine realizations signed in a year, delivering an average gross money of invested capital of 2.6 times when excluding the write down of Via Medical. Post period end, the take private of Paycor was announced at a 69% uplift to the last announced fair value thirty September twenty twenty four. At transaction close, this deal is expected to deliver a gross money of invested capital of 3.3 times. But back to my comment on the portfolio experiencing challenges in recent years.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

This bridge shows the key drivers of NAV movement over the last three years since December 2021. Performance in the last three years has been impacted by two key effects. The first and main effect is the drag from the listed holdings in the private equity portfolio, which are largely residual holdings from companies that were IPO'd in 2020 and 2021. We have discussed the impact from these listed holdings through 2024, but as a reminder, the Apex funds choose to exit a number of deals, in particular in tech, during 2020 and 2021 through IPOs to take advantage of the very high valuations available in public markets at the time. These listed investments have together created a lot of value for AGA to date returning more than three times gross cost.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

However, they were a material part of the portfolio and underperformed following their respective IPOs, causing a material drag on performance as you can see from this chart. The second effect in key drag on performance has been the remaining retail and healthcare investments within the portfolio and particularly VIA. Again as a reminder on VIA, following materially deteriorating trading at the company, VIA filed for Chapter 11 in 2024 and has been completely written off in the private equity portfolio with the remaining debt position sold. The effect of these two key issues in the portfolio were offset by positive contributions from the core private equity sector and debt investments. AGA also returned significant amounts of cash to shareholders through regular dividends.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

You can see the impact on this on NAV on the right hand side of the chart. The key message we want to convey here is that these challenges now appear in the rearview mirror. The list of private equity positions in the portfolio have been actively reduced with full exits of Genius Sports, the Baltics Classifieds Group, and GTGA, the take private of Thoughtworks by the Apex Funds and the post period end take private of Paycor by Paychecks. Pro form a for Paycor, remaining listed holdings in our portfolio now only 3% to 2% of AGA's NAV. To put this in perspective, this is down from approximately 25% at the peak.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

So, you should expect less of a headwind from these listed positions going forward. Now, also at APACS, we have recently decided to no longer have a dedicated team focus in healthcare. The decision was driven by our view that fewer opportunities suited the Hidden Gems strategy and the opportunities in this sector. The funds also have long stopped making retail investments with the last retail investment made in 2017. Now combined, the remaining healthcare and retail investments represent 8% of year end NAV and the most recent Apex Buyout Fund has no investments in the healthcare sector.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

Turning now specifically to the 2024 bridge. The core sectors of tech services and internet consumer were positive cyclical headwinds for example, companies such as Thoughtworks, Toy2Dixie and Infogain. And as I discussed on the prior page, the key drag on performance were the remaining healthcare and retail investments, again in particular VIA, which as you can see the effect here on the middle of the chart. The VIA bucket includes the effect on both the private equity indebted portfolios. Let me now hand over to Salim to discuss why we are optimistic for the future.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Well, thank you, Ralph. And before I actually dive into the AGA portfolio, I briefly wanted to touch on the market backdrop. 2024 has marked the establishment of a new normal, a landscape characterized by higher interest rates, sluggish growth, and heightened geopolitical tension. The investing landscape has changed. With slower growth and a higher cost of capital, the skills needed to generate returns are fundamentally different.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

The days of low interest rates and easy gains where firms could succeed just by buying high and selling higher are behind us. And now the real value comes from operational transformation. To stand out, investors need to uncover opportunities for long term growth by improving the businesses they invest in. That takes experience, the right mindset, and a refined skill set, things that just aren't built overnight. And that's why we fundamentally believe the Apex Fund's hidden gems approach is uniquely positioned to deliver strong scalable returns even in uncertain times with a specialized skill set to execute on operational transformations.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Now after a quieter period for private equity in 2024, private equity, 2024 marked a comeback in transaction value. While these are still below the highs of the pandemic years, momentum has been building. Taking a step back, during the active markets experienced in 2020 to 2022, the Apex funds were net sellers and distributors of capital, maintaining a disciplined approach and avoiding the rush to deploy capital at peak valuations while selling investments when valuations were high. As you can see from the chart on the left, the private equity market as a whole showed significant net drawdowns during the period, investing significantly more than was distributed at peak valuations. Looking ahead to 2025, deal making is expected to maintain the momentum we have seen as there is a record level of deployable capital and an increasing need for liquidity events demanded by investors.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

While sponsors are showing increasing willingness to transact at current valuations, there are still many cases of valuation gaps between buyers and sellers, and geopolitical trade, inflationary, and macro uncertainties may continue to weigh on market activity. In the last couple of years, the Apex Funds portfolio companies, with the help of the operational excellence team, have been investing in the foundations of their next stage of profitable growth with a number of proof points already evident. As a result of this, the pipeline of ready to exit companies has been steadily rebuilding. And as the portfolio continues to mature, we anticipate continued exit activity driven by interest from both strategic and financial investors. Furthermore, we believe that alongside a disciplined approach to deploying capital, the Apex Hidden Gems strategy is well suited to identify attractive investments in this more uncertain environment.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Now on this next slide, I wanted to talk a bit further about the latest generation of the Apex Global Buyout Fund, Apex eleven, which closed in January 2024. AGA has made a $700,000,000 commitment to Apex eleven, and the underlying portfolio investments will therefore be a key driver of AGA net asset value performance. It is worth noting that most of these companies fall under AGA's top 30 look through holdings. To put that in perspective numerically, the chart on the left hand side shows that the Apex eleven portfolio companies represent 2021% of NAV at the December 2024. Note that this figure includes the current value of APEX eleven portfolio companies plus the expected calls for APEX eleven in the next twelve months.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

This has grown significantly from when AGA made its commitment in 2022. And at this stage, APEX eleven is only 37 invested and committed to the 10 portfolio companies you see in the middle of the page, meaning that the percentage of NAV that the fund will represent will only increase as new investments are made. The top 10 portfolio companies of Apex eleven all operate within the three core sectors and are executed within the Hidden Gems investment strategy framework, leveraging APAC's subsector expertise and operational transformation capabilities. These investments were executed at about a 20% discount to peers on average and as part of their investment thesis are showing potential for accretive M and A with several already having initiated their M and A strategies. For example, Celes, Paelex, and OTS Finwave, which have already completed or signed transformal acquisitions since the initial investment from the Apex funds.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

I'm pleased to report these investments are off to a good start having showed good momentum in 2024 with average revenue growth of 15% and EBITDA growth of 14%. Despite an average holding period of only eight months at December 2024, the investments are on average marked at 1.3 times gross money multiple. Let me now turn to AGA's overall portfolio, which is invested on the next page. At the 12/31/2024, private equity investments represented 83% of AGA's invested portfolio, providing shareholders with exposures to around 80 companies. The investment in AGA's private equity portfolio have been made over a number of years as the private equity funds are deployed prudently with new investments being made over three to four years per fund.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

This provides for vintage year diversification and has helped overexposure in recent years to historically high multiples during the pandemic years. The pie chart on the left shows the structure of the portfolio, calling out the 10 largest companies in the private equity portfolio and the names you can see fall primarily in in the tech and services sectors combined with the Internet consumer sector. The core APAC sectors represent 95% of ADA's private equity portfolio. Capital not currently invested in private equity has primarily been invested in debt instruments, which provide capital flexibility and balance sheet robustness. Continuing with the topic of the portfolio, on page 11, you can see the operating metrics for the private equity portfolio.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

These numbers represent the last twelve months and are compared to December 2023. Over the past twelve months, average revenue growth and EBITDA growth across the portfolio private equity portfolio whilst robust have decelerated. As Ralph discussed, this has primarily been driven by the remaining health care and retail investments and a slowdown seen by consumer exposed both businesses and companies exposed to cyclical headwinds such as which is exposed to the German construction cycle, and some of our tech services companies such as Infogain and Thoughtworks, which

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

while

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

they showed year over year revenue deceleration, did demonstrate stability on a quarter on quarter basis in 2024. Valuation multiples have increased over the year against the backdrop of increasing public and private equity comps going from an average of 16.6 times enterprise value to EBITDA to 17.8 times at the end of the year. Leverage levels across the portfolio remained at lower levels compared to the wider industry with average the average across AGA's private equity portfolio of four and a half times net debt to EBITDA. So in all in all, despite the slight deceleration you see on the page, the portfolio continues to demonstrate steady revenue and earnings growth. Moving now to the next slide to take a closer look at the AGA's look through exposures.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Here, you can see the top five portfolio companies in AGA's private equity portfolio. Starting on the left with PIB Group. As a reminder, this is a highly diversified insurance distributor consolidator operating primarily across The UK with a presence in Europe. PID is a solid business in a subsector the Apex funds knew well. The industry is highly attractive due to its recession resilient and nondiscretionary characteristics, and PID is well diversified across business lines and geographies.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

The Apex Funds identified this as an opportunity to execute a buy and build strategy in Europe as we had successfully done with our US Insurance Broker investments, Hub, and Assured Partners. The investment continues to trend well with organic revenue growth ahead of plan despite the macro and geopolitical headwinds in 2024. The second largest holding in the AGAPA portfolio is the combination of Alchemists and Veriforce. Let me remind you of what these businesses are. Veriforce is a global provider of supply chain risk management solutions or SCRM, serving a multitude of end markets with hubs in The United States, Canada, and The UK.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Alchemists is headquartered in The UK with a strong presence in Canada and is similar to Veriforce in that it provides a suite of SCRM solutions. These businesses fall within an attractive industry with significant growth driven by increasingly complex regulatory pressures and more demanding commercial requirements and are highly sticky with recurring revenue characteristics. Over the coming months, these two companies will begin to integrate and will provide an update in due course. Turning now to Thoughtworks, which is an old friend. Thoughtworks is a global technology consultancy that integrates strategy, design, and engineering to drive digital innovation.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

It's where a Fortune 2,000 company would go to build a complex application or transformation or technology such as artificial intelligence. It's a familiar name, which the Apex nine Fund invested in in 02/2017. Thoughtworks was IPO ed in 2021 at a very attractive valuation with Apex nine receiving three times invested cost in proceeds on or before the IPO and remaining the majority shareholder in Thoughtworks following the IPO. Now, as you saw on the bridge that Ralph talked through earlier, the share price fell dramatically over the last three years. In August, the Apex eleven fund reached an agreement to purchase all the outstanding shares in the company and take it private with Apex nine together with related coinvestors rolling its majority stake in the company.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

The 4% NAV figure you see on the bottom of the page relates to ADA's combined look through from both the Apex nine and Apex eleven eleven fund. As an update on the company, Thoughtworks was negatively impacted by post COVID shifts in IT spending from big corporates and pricing pressures. However, its reputation amongst customers and employees remains very high for technical innovation, and we believe technology and innovation such as artificial intelligence should provide long term tailwinds. We believe there is now an opportunity to accelerate deep transformation and operational improvements that can only be done in a private setting. Whilst revenue and EBITDA declined year over year in 2024, revenues stabilized in 2024 on a quarter on quarter basis with the second half of the year EBITDA growing on a year over year basis.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Turning now to Assured Partners, this is a mid market property casualty and employee benefits insurance brokerage. Towards the end of twenty twenty four, Apex '9 announced the full sale of its minority co controlled stake in Assured to a strategic buyer, Arthur J. Gallagher and Co. The funds first invested in Assured in 2015 through a majority, capital recapitalization led by Apex Aid. Following the exit of Apex Aid's investment in Assured Partners, Apex nine, alongside an investor group led by GTCR, another private equity firm, acquired a significant minority co control stake in the company in February 2019.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Over the course of nine years, the Apex funds have supported Assured's growth into a national leader in assurance brokerage in The United States. During the fund's ownership, Assured Partners expanded rapidly, completing 400 acquisitions as it implemented its strategic M and A program and scaling its higher growth specialty segment through the acquisition of Keenan and Associates. The Apex Funds bolstered its organic growth and profitability by investing in operational improvements, including technology, sales force, and infrastructure capabilities. While the signed exit is expected to deliver an attractive gross money multiple of 2.7 times, making it a very successful deal for the funds, it was sold at a 10% discount for the last unaffected valuation. And that's unlike our other material exits in 2024, Altium and Idealista, which was sold at premiums and indeed Paycor, which was sold after period end at a material premium to the thirty first December net asset value.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Assured Partners is the largest company in the Apex Funds portfolio in terms of enterprise value and so isn't typical. For assets of this size, there are two main exit routes, IPO and strategic sale. While the IPO route would have probably delivered a more premium valuation, hence, why it was marked where it was pre the sale, post IPO, the valuation of the remaining stake would have been subject to future sale share price volatility and external market dynamics, and it would have taken significantly longer to fully exit the investment. As a result, the Apex funds alongside GTCR, our coinvestors, decided to take the full exit, which in summary still represents a very successful deal for AGA. And finally, moving to Zelliss Group, which is another good example of the Apex hidden gems approach leading to a transformative add on acquisition early on in the company's growth journey.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Now for those of you who are less familiar with the company, this is an Apex eleven investment that signed in April 2024. Xelliss is one of the leading providers of payroll and HR software solutions to customers in The UK and Ireland, which are highly sticky. It is an also an emerging leader in the global benefits administration software market. During the due diligence phase preceding the investment in Xelliss, the deal team recognized the potential opportunity for a transformational day one acquisition of Benify. Benify is an employee benefits software provider in The Nordics and was identified as an opportunity to rapidly enhance the company's existing benefits business and establish the company as a key player in the global fragmented and expanding market for benefits administration software.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Together, Xeliss Group's existing benefits business and Benify will create a real leader in global benefits, rewards, recognition, and employee engagement software with an enhanced value proposition to customers globally. The two businesses are highly complementary, and this acquisition creates a truly global solution, which will allow customers to benefit from a deeper suite of platform integrations across HR, payroll, and benefits. Within these top five holdings of AGA, you're seeing the benefits of diversification, some of these being relatively early in the investment life cycle whilst others are closer to exit. Having had time for the Apex funds to execute on the respective value creation plans. Let me now move to the next page to give you an update on investment activity.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

This page shows the new investments in 2024. AGA expects to deploy a total of €166,000,000, which includes investments closed in the period together with an investment in Smith and Williamson, which is expected to close in the first half of twenty twenty five. Apex '11 made six new investments in the year. The first was WGSN, a leading consumer trend forecasting company, which was a carve out from the publicly quoted Essential. Apex has a long history with WDSN's parent company, Essential, where earlier funds acquired the business in 02/2008 as part of the acquisition of EMAT PLC.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Working closely with our operational excellence team, the Internet consumer team intends to leverage several organic growth initiatives, including improved product packaging and pricing strategies to grow the business. There's also an opportunity to expand into new products near new verticals through M and A. Apex eleven also invested in Altus Fire and Safety, a leading provider of regulation and mandated fire and safety services in the Northeastern Region of The United States. The transaction draws on the fund's experience in the services subsector of density based business models. Other investments in that area include Safety Kleen, which is a reminder is Europe's largest service provider for parts washers, and Savetry, a lawn and tree care company in The United States.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

For Altus, the investment thesis is to support the company through its growth journey by investing in sales and marketing, increasing the revenue mix, recurring revenue mix, and capitalizing on the highly fragmented fire and safety market through M and A, trying to build a national champion. I spoke about Xelliss Thoughtworks and Veriforce on the prior page, so I won't go into much more detail here. As Ralph mentioned earlier and not on this page, Apex eleven announced its eleventh investment in KONE Resnick last week in which AGAs expect to to invest €35,000,000 on a look through basis. In case you haven't seen the press release, KONE Resnick is one of the leading advisory assurance and tax firms in The United States. Sitting with the mid market, Kone Reznik serves companies in a range of industries with a particular focus on real estate.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

The transaction draws on the Apex Fund's experiences in the service sectors, with investments such as Smith and Williamson, PIB Group, and the Exited Assured Partners. The thesis is to build a business where there is a mission critical need and strong market position in certain niches, improve operations and execute M and A, which is much easier to do with a PE backed company as opposed to sitting in a partnership structure. The final three investments on LePage were for the Apex Global Impact Fund and for Apex Digital Fund two. The Apex Global Impact Fund acquired a controlling stake in Integrated Environmental Solutions, IES, an energy simulation software provider with significant opportunity to scale globally, helping to decarbonize through reducing carbon emissions in buildings. The Apex Digital Fund, too, agreed to acquire IONS, a provider of tech enabled research and advisory services to the cybersecurity industry and also Great HR, a leading full suite human resources management and software platform in India.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Signed, but not yet closed, is the acquisition of professional services business of Evelyn Partners, which upon completion will be rebranded Smith and Williamson. I will go into this into more detail on the next slide. As I mentioned, towards the end of the year, the Apex funds announced the acquisition of the accountancy and advisory practice of Evelyn Partners. The Calvat transaction will create the leading standalone UK mid market accountancy business, which upon completion will be rebranded Smith and Williamson building on the heritage of the brand, which some of you will recognize and actually dates back to 1881. Evelyn Partners accountancy and advisory practice, which is based in London and serves clients across The UK, offers a range of accountancy services, including audit and business outsourcing, business tax, private client tax, and advisory.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

The investment thesis is to support the newly branded Smith and Williamson on its growth journey, cementing its place as a leader in the mid market space in The UK. Being an independent company with the management team fully incentivized and with capital for m and a, this should really unhelp the will unlock the potential. The Apex Funds in partnership with our operational excellence team will help the business unlock multiple value creation levers, including optimizing go to market strategies and driving cross sell, accelerating talent hire, investing in technology to fuel revenue growth and aiming to enhance margins, and expanding into new service lines to meet client needs, and finally, pursuing strategic M and A in a very fragmented market. We have tracked the accountancy advisory space for several years on both sides of the Atlantic, developing a solid understanding of the market and its various players. Also worth noting, the OEP carve out experience, which will help to derisk the carve out plan from Evelyn Partners, having execute 36 carve outs in the last ten years, including three alone in Apex eleven.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Turning now to realizations where we've also seen an increased activity in 2024, particularly in the second half, as the stock of ready to exit companies has steadily been rebuilt. To put the size of these realizations into perspective for AGA, you can see the bottom row for each deal indicates AGA's look through investment amount as well as the gross proceeds received or expected to be received. We've discussed many of these already, including the listed sell downs and subsequent full exits, so I just wanted to focus on some of the larger exits in the year. In September 2024, Apex '9 closed its exit of Healthium, delivering a gross MOIC of 3.4 times for AGA. Apex nine acquired Healthium in 2018 and over the course of the investment drove substantial transformation at the company from a domestic Indian player into a global medtech leader.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

At entry, Healthium traded at a discount of over 20% of the Comsat compared to a 20% premium at exit. Again, Healthium is another great example of a truly hidden gem and showcases the APAC strategy in motion. Realizations in APAC's 10 for Afinipay and Idealisa also closed in the second half of the year. Affinipay was a software carve out where the funds retained a minority stake when the business was sold to a financial sponsor. The stake has now been realized leading to a very attractive return on the overall deal of 4.1 times cost.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

The gross invest the gross multiple of two times you see here for Idealista is for the second investment made in the company via Apex ten. Those of you that have followed the interim results will remember that the Apex funds have previously made a successful investment in the company back in 2015, which realized 5.3 times for the funds. So overall, a good uptick in uptick in realization activity in the second half of the year and with the portfolio continuing to mature with the pipeline of ready to exit investments rebuilding, we anticipate continued exit activity in 2025. I will now hand back to Ralph to give you an update on the debt portfolio.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

Thanks, Salim. As a reminder, the debt portfolio absorbs capital that is not currently invested in private equity. This portfolio limits cash drag, generates additional returns and income by providing another source of funding towards the dividend payment and the distribution pool which I will talk about more in the next slide. The debt portfolio primarily comprises first and second lien loans and investments in companies and sectors where APACs can leverage insights from its private equity activities. In 2024, the debt portfolio achieved a total return of 7.5% or 2.9% on a constant currency basis weathering the impact from the via write down but it was also supported by beneficial foreign exchange movements during the year.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

If you were to exclude the impact of Vaia, total return of the debt portfolio would have been 13.2% or 8.7% constant currency. To better manage portfolio risk going forward and avoid dual impacts such as VIA, AGA will not invest in the debt of Apex Funds portfolio companies anymore. Also not on the page but worth highlighting, AGA has two remaining derived equity positions which represent less than 1% of the invested portfolio thirty first December twenty twenty four. Over the year, AGA exited a derived equity position with the remaining two positions being valued at €5,000,000 Before wrapping up now and moving on to the Q and A, I want to also provide a quick update on AGA's capital allocation framework. In the first half of the year, the AGA board undertook a review of AGA's capital allocation and sought feedback from shareholders.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

As a conclusion of that review, at the Capital Markets Day in June, the board announced a new capital allocation framework which reflects shareholder and analyst views. To summarize, the new capital allocation framework comprises the following elements. First, the continued payment of a regular dividend to shareholders semi annually with the dividend being fixed at an absolute level of 11p per share per annum. And second, the distribution pool which earmarks funds on AGA's balance sheet for share buybacks which allows the Board to take advantage of the opportunity presented by buy discounts if they arise. The distribution pool was ceded for €30,000,000 in June, allowing AGA to commence share repurchases immediately.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

In total in 2024, AGA returned €69,000,000 via dividends and buybacks to shareholders. This is split into €64,000,000 paid in dividends, which represents a very attractive dividend yield of 7.8% to December 2024 share price and €5,000,000 of share buybacks to acquire approximately 2,900,000.0 shares or 0.6% of opening share capital. Buybacks contributed to 0.2% of NAV accretion in 2024 which can be seen on page 20 in the appendix of the presentation which you can get a copy of from the AGA website. The AGA board obviously continuously monitors the effectiveness of the share buyback program and as some of you may have noticed from the recent transactions in own share announcements the board has sought to increase the velocity of share repurchases. At the end of twenty twenty four, EUR '20 '5 million remained in the distribution pool.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

Let me summarize a few key takeaways from the presentation. We recognize the performance in the year has been disappointing. However, despite the recent challenges we've discussed, the underlying portfolio is well positioned to create value from here. The key issues that impacted performance in the last three years now appeared largely in the rear view mirror. One, the list of private equity investments exposure reduced to 2% of NAV at the December from a peak of 25% at the end of twenty twenty one.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

There has also sharpened focus from the Apex Funds and the three core sectors of tech, services and internet consumer. As a result, the Apex Funds will no longer make healthcare investments. And going forward, there will be no debt investments in portfolio companies of the Apex Funds. Looking ahead, the recent Apex eleven investments are off to a good start and are well positioned to build on the early momentum we've seen. With the early performance indicators showing promising returns, these investments are poised to be key value drivers for AGA's long term NAV performance.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

With that, Salim and I are now happy to open up to any questions you may have and back to you operator for

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

this.

[Operator]

Thank you. We will now start the Q and A. As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please submit them via the Q and A box which can be found at at the bottom of the screen by clicking on the Q and A box. Alternatively, you can send any questions via email to investor.

[Operator]

Relationsapexglobalalpha dot com. So we'll just pause for a moment for the queue. We have one investor asking for thoughts on the underperformance from the IPO to date.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

I can take this. I mean, first of all, the performance since IPO has been below the targets set out over the long term, which is disappointing. I mean, Salim and I have set out why we are optimistic in terms of what the fund can achieve from here. The key reasons for this are the ones that we have set out. I would also add that following the IPO in the earlier years, AGA was underexposed to private equity assets, which of course is structurally the higher returning asset class versus debt.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

Post IPO or at IPO, only about 30% of the NAV was in private equity that increased about 50% at the end of twenty sixteen is now at an also of 80%. Also, you know, we're seeing good exposure and a better exposure in the private equity portfolio now given its diversification across vintages and and portfolio companies, which would help returns going forward. Not additional obviously to returns, also just as an additional point that I'd like to highlight is, it's really also worthwhile looking at capital returns from IPO to date. Most capital to shareholders relative to peers. If you put it in numbers, it's about 95p per share that were paid out in dividends alone since IPO.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

To summarize, yes, returns have been below the target range. We've discussed the issues and as Salim and I set out, we look optimistic in terms of the outlook, but obviously need to acknowledge that we have been below target.

[Operator]

Thank you. And our next question will come from Conor Finn from Barclays. The question is, can you outline where portfolio companies have the most exposure to tariffs and any mitigating strategies that might be considered?

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Yes. Obviously, a very topical item. Well, the good news across our portfolio is we don't have a huge amount of companies that are exposed to tariffs because most of our portfolio, things like software, tech services, business services, or either domestic businesses, or they might rely on some services, outsourcing, but not goods outsourcing. So I think in all, my estimate would be sub 15% of the portfolio would be subjected to tariffs and where it really impacts are medical devices and consumer, which are relatively small parts of the portfolio. Now it is a the whole tariff thing is actually very detailed and we've yet to see, I think, the full detail versus what's the headline.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

So our companies are preparing for this, and we'll we'll sort of have to see the mitigation. Some of it will involve passing the prices on, some looking at alternative manufacturing locations or shipping and logistics. But the companies that do have exposure to this are planning as we speak.

[Operator]

Our next question is for Apex Exide, can you give more detail on the drivers behind the 1.3 times multiple after only an eight month holding period for the portfolio companies?

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Yes. So I think two impacts here. One, particularly well, three impacts. One, the portfolios that were where the investments done in 2023 have performed very strongly out of the gate. So companies like, Bazooka, like IBS software are performing strongly.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Second, I mentioned the performance was strong, 15% revenue growth and 14% EBITDA growth, with some multiple expansion through the year as the as conditions improved and together with leverage, that got you some of it. And finally, some of these transformative acquisitions we talked about, things like Xelliss and OTS Finwave, where there are real synergies day one of executing those acquisitions. So a combination of all those factors has led to the performance for

[Operator]

And our next question is, can you explain your choice to value assured partners at the potential IPO's value given AGA's experience with that exit route? And how was the impact and how has that impacted your valuation policy going forward? Will it be more conservative?

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Yes. I think, look, let's put this in context. Assured was the one investment we sold below cost. All the others were, sorry, above FMV, below FMV. All the others were above FMV.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

So I think if you take the blend through the year, it was slightly above FMV on average, unaffected valuation of FMV. So assured was a little bit of a one off. I wouldn't say we are aggressive with our marketing policy at all. In terms of the question of, well, what about the IPO? I think we certainly thought the IPO was the route we were likely to exit.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

And I think this is an insurance broker, so it's far more stable than some of our tech portfolio that had the volatility. And it was an opportunistic buy by AG Gallagher. They approached us and moved quickly. So we had no visibility that they would come along six months ago, and they did. And then, we did believe you would get a higher valuation on IPO, but it would take longer.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

And then you would be obviously subject to some volatility. But we actively debated, should we just hold this? Because actually, this is the sort of company that should be stable and predictable in the public markets.

[Operator]

Our next question is, in the context of Paykel's acquisition by Paychex, can you comment more broadly on what you've seen so far this year in terms of interest of strategic investors in your portfolio holdings compared to sponsor to sponsor deal opportunities?

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Yes. I mean, I think there was obviously Paychex's acquisition of Paycor and indeed AJ Gallagher as their interest and their purchase of Assured. So if I look at our exit pipeline at the moment, it's a combination of strategics and sponsors. I definitely think strategics are active. Financing is cheap, so that's good.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

And our portfolio lends itself, I think, once the gem is fully polished to being acquired by strategics. But there's also sponsor interest in a number of our companies. So I'd say both exit options are open. IPO is, I think, more limited and it's really the more stable big companies where we'd look to IPO.

[Operator]

And the follow-up to that one was, will you make any new debt investments before your distribution pool reaches 5% of NAV?

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

The answer is yes. Please keep in mind that the debt portfolio is used to also be a reserve for outstanding commitments to the private equity portfolio. So in order to efficiently manage that reserve on the balance sheet and avoid the cash drag on these reserves, the debt portfolio will we will make or the fund AGA will make investments in debt to avoid the cash drag if needed to keep the reserve for future commitments.

[Operator]

Thank you. And our next question is, exiting IPO exiting by IPOs at high multiples saw good exit uplifts only to then see NAV hit as ratings fall. Given this NAV volatility, can you give some color on your appetite to exit by IPOs and the amounts locked in as a consequence?

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Yes. So I think we went through a clearly a very hot IPO market in 2021. And we recognize that valuations might be nearer their peak than their trough. And so as part of those IPOs, we took three times cost out in cash proceeds. So these were highly successful investments.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

Now what that did leave was obviously a lot of NAV in the ground. And I think particularly with investments like Thoughtworks, we did not expect the decline that we saw. And you saw from Ralph's slide just the impact of Thoughtworks alone on the NAV decline. So I think it was a little bit of an idiosyncratic period and we de risk the IPO investments by taking cash out. On a go forward basis, as I indicated, I expect the IPO exits will be for the very large companies where they're stable and predictable.

[Salim Nathoo, Partner at Apax Global Alpha]

And the vast majority of exits will be to strategics and sponsors.

[Operator]

Our next question is asking you to talk about the balance sheets, sort of cash versus commitments and the expected drawdowns.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

I can take this. So you can find details in the appendix to the presentation. High level, balance sheet is robust. If you look at calls in the next twelve months, they are covered 2.4 times. There is an RCF of $250,000,000, which has been undrawn at year end.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

And as I said to the question earlier, we also use the debt portfolio as a reserve for future commitments. Again, details are in the presentation in the appendix.

[Operator]

Okay. That seems like we've got to the end of our questions here on the written question side. So I'm going to hand back to Rolf for closing remarks.

[Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners at Apax Global Alpha]

Nothing from me other than to thank you all for participating in today's call. If you have any further questions that we didn't address in the call right now or would like to arrange a meeting with us, please feel free to contact the Investor Relations team. And with that, I wish you a good day and goodbye.

Participants

Executives

• Ralf Gruss, Partner | Apax Partners
• Salim Nathoo, Partner