Apax Global Alpha (APAX) announced its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2024. The company delivered a NAV total return of 0.8% (or 3.0% in constant currency) with negative impacts from the decrease in its private equity portfolio and retail investments weighing on returns. The three core sectors of Tech, Services, and Internet/Consumer all had net positive contributions to NAV.
€69m was returned to shareholders through both dividends (equivalent to a dividend yield of 7.8%) and share buybacks during the year. Since IPO, APAX has paid shareholders dividends amounting to €508m in total, equivalent to 57% of IPO NAV.
The company noted that it will deploy c.€166m across nine private equity investments signed and/or closed in the year. During the year, APAX received €62m in distributions, primarily from eight full or partial exits. Including exits signed in 2024, an average gross MOIC of 1.6x was achieved. Post period-end, the take private of paycor was announced and is expected to generate a gross MOIC of 3.3x on closing later in H1 2025.
Discussing the results, chair Karl Sternberg said:
“Whilst recent challenges have impacted short-term returns, the board believes the Apax ‘Hidden Gems’ strategy is sound and notes that underlying portfolio company performance has remained encouraging with robust EBITDA growth. It is reassuring to see the higher investment activity levels and we are pleased to see the recent buyout investments are off to a good start.
“The board is very conscious of the discount and all options to allow shareholders to benefit from the underlying value of the portfolio will be explored. The board has a clear capital allocation framework and AGA has already returned more capital to shareholders than any of the peers since its IPO. We will continue to maintain an open dialogue with our shareholders and other stakeholders as we strive towards a fairer recognition by the market of the full value of the Apax Funds portfolio.”
APAX: Optimistic outlook for Apax Global Alpha despite modest year
