Convenience is king: private equity eyes c-stores. Plus: insights from 6th Annual Beryl Elites Alternative Investment Conference

Welcome to the weekly round-up of highlights from our free daily Preqin First Close newsletter, your essential guide to the global alternatives industry. I’m Jayda Etienne, Assistant Editor, and every Friday I select exclusive news and insights from the past week.

For daily updates, subscribe here to receive the full issue straight to your inbox. ?

Let's kick things off with some trivia – it’s been a big year for elections. More than 100 countries, home to nearly half of the global population, have headed to the polls. But which country is the world’s largest democracy??

a) America?

b) Brazil??

c) Bangladesh??

d) India?

Find the answer at the end of the newsletter.

$47bn takeover bid for 7-Eleven could prompt buyout firms to look for bargains?

The convenience store sector is in for a shake-up. The world’s largest chain, with more than 83,000 outlets, is facing a $47bn takeover bid from another giant, Quebec’s Couche-Tard, operator and franchisor of Circle K.?

It could be the first of a new wave of M&A in the years ahead, predicts the Wall Street Journal.?

Convenience stores are a big business. Globally, there are more than one million of them. Mordor Intelligence puts the market size in the US alone at $663.5bn in 2024, which, with a forecast CAGR of 6.12%, would hit $893bn by 2029.? Combined annual sales for the country are over $906bn,?according to the US National Association of Convenience Stores.

7-Eleven isn’t the only group subject to a potential takeover.?In Japan, telecoms group, KDDI has invested $3.3bn to increase its stake in the Lawson chain from 2.1% to 50%. The other 50% is still owned by Mitsubishi. Lawson includes 14,600 stores in Japan and 7,200 outside the country. KDDI plans to offer communications, financial, and other services at the outlets.???

In Poland, ?abka, the country’s largest convenience store chain (10,500 units), raised $1.6bn in this year’s fourth-largest European IPO. It was the biggest stock market debut in Warsaw since 2020. CVC bought out the company in 2017.??

New York conference panelists discuss drivers of private equity and VC growth??

The matrix of alternative investment is everywhere. Many investors are just beginning to grasp its full potential. This was the prevailing mood at the 6th Annual Beryl Elites Alternative Investments & Data Revolution Conference in New York last week.?

A panel on the future of private equity and VC comprised experts from leading asset managers including BlackRock, Schroders Capital, and Mirae Asset Global Investments, moderated by Preqin's Shifra Ansonoff. They identified two key drivers shaping the future of private equity: the influx of private wealth investors and the rapidly developing secondaries market.???

Secondaries are one of the fastest-growing segments in private equity. Preqin forecasts this trend will continue, boosted by the liquidity challenges facing LPs and by?increasing popularity?among individual investors.??

The discussion also touched on emerging challenges, such as the changing regulatory environment, and concentration of capital among the largest private equity players.???

Get the full story here.?

Europe LPs continue to struggle with ESG investments despite SFDR. Most investors want to incorporate ESG factors in investment decisions, but just 20% plan to commit to Article 8 and 9 funds, according to Preqin’s survey.??

US manager Shamrock Capital hits hard cap on sixth private equity fund amid a slow fundraising market. The Los Angeles-based private equity firm with $6.6bn AUM has raised $1.6bn across two funds, focusing on buyouts and later-stage growth equity investments in middle-market companies.?

Weekly people moves at LPs and GPs around the world, including Silversmith Capital Partners, Glenmede Investment Management, and AlbaCore Capital Group.??

d) India??

With 1.4 billion people and 970 million eligible voters, India is the world's largest democracy. In 2024, general elections?were held from? April 19 to June 1, amid intense heatwaves, to elect all?543 members?of the?Lok Sabha. Prime Minister Narendra Modi?secured a 3rd consecutive term.??

Want to stay ahead of the curve? Join over 150,000 of your industry peers by subscribing to our free daily email newsletter for more alternatives news delivered straight to your inbox.?

?