When it comes to management challenges, fish fingers and circuses are at opposite extremes: one product is the acme of industrialised food processing, the other the ultimate expression of human creativity and energy. Somehow, private equity has found room for both: last week, Permira agreed to sell Iglo, which makes Birds Eye fish fingers in Europe, after nine years running the frozen foods company, while another buyout group, TPG Capital, led a deal to gain control of Montreal’s Cirque du Soleil.
谈到管理上的挑战,炸鱼条和马戏表演是两个相反极端:一个是工业化食品加工的极致,另一个是人类创造力和能量的终极表达。从某种程度来讲,私人股本找到了同时实现这两点的空间:前一阵子,私人股本集团帕米拉(Permira)同意出售在欧洲生产Birds Eye炸鱼条的Iglo公司,帕米拉经营这家冷冻食品公司已有9年时间;另一家收购集团德太集团(TPG Capital)则领衔达成一笔交易,获得蒙特利尔太阳马戏团(Cirque du Soleil)控股权。