#IPO Report: The TPG IPO: 5 things to know about private-equity firm valued at more than $9 billion

While TPG executives have been talking privately about going public for years, the firm has finally moved ahead after strong stock price performances from rivals such as Blackstone Group
BX,
+0.86%,
KKR & Co. Inc.
KKR,
+0.64%,
Carlyle Group
CG,
+1.09%
and Apollo Global Management
APO,
+0.26%.

Founded in 1992, TPG currently counts about 912 employees. The Fort Worth, Texas-based financial firm previously operated under the name Texas Pacific Group. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, TPG Capital BD and BofA Securities are leading the IPO’s underwriting roster of 23 banks.

See: IPO market enjoys busiest year for deals since 2000 and raises most proceeds ever at $142.5 billion

Here are 5 things to know about TPG’s IPO.

The company will convert to a C-Corp when it goes public

Currently structured as a limited liability company, or LLC, TPG has operated as a partnership that manages funds with capital from institutional investors such as pension funds. When it goes public, its name will change to TPG Inc., in a traditional corporate structure.

That will allow TPG attract public equity investors from the world of index funds and mutual funds, which tend to avoid buying shares in partnerships.

When Blackstone Group and other private-equity firms initially went public in the 1990s, they kept their partnership structures until about three or four years ago, when they started converting to C-Corps. More investors were able to invest in the stocks and share prices rose. Those gains accelerated in 2021 amid overall strength in banks and other financial stocks.

Blackstone Group shares are up 91% in 2021, Carlyle Group has gained 64%, Apollo Global Management has advanced about 43% and KKR is up nearly 76%.

See Also: KKR profit rises, beats expectations

TPG’s IPO will likely tip the scales at more than $1 billion

Judging from the company’s revenue figures as well as its lineup of 23 underwriters, it’s likely TPG may tip the scales as a large deal with $500 million to $1 billion or more.

TPG reported net income of $1.44 billion on revenue of $2.11 billion in 2020, up from $1.18 billion of net income on $1.99 billion of revenue in 2019.

For the first nine months of 2021, it generated net income of $3.82 billion including $3.2 billion of capital allocation-based income, on revenue of $3.9 billion, up from net income of $295.2 million and revenue of $564.4 million of revenue in the year-ago period.

These figures suggest a market value of TPG well into the billions and potential IPO proceeds much higher than $100 million.

TPG promotes business diversification and growth

In its IPO prospectus, TPG emphasized its rapid expansion as well as diversification as a firm in recent years, compared to its buyout-focused business from years back.

TPG led or co-led a series of jumbo buyouts prior to the 2008 financial crises. That string of megadeals included the $5 billion purchase of luxury retailer Neiman Marcus with Warburg Pincus in 2005, and culminated in the $44 billion buyout of Texas power producer TXU (renamed Energy Future Holdings) with other private-equity firms.

TPG ran into trouble around the time of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Its $7 billion investment in Washington Mutual in 2008 resulted in a $1.4 billion loss when the bank was taken over by the U.S. government.  

Since those years, TPG has moved to diversify from big buyouts into a large swath of alternative investments in five major buckets: capital, growth, impact, real estate and market solutions.

Its assets under management have increased 81% to $109 billion as of Sept. 30 from the start of 2016.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that TPG planned to go public, possibly via a deal with a special-purpose acquisition company. The newspaper reported in August that TPG was hiring investment bankers for the IPO.

TPG will have three classes of stock as a public company

TPG plans to issue three classes of stock in the IPO: Class A common stock; non-voting Class A common stock; and Class B common stock.

Each share of Class A common stock represents one vote per share. Each share of Class B common stock initially entitles the holder to 10 votes per share and accompanies a common unit of TPG operating group.

TPG plans to sell Class A shares in the IPO, with proceeds from the sale used to buy common units from TPG Operating Group. The TPG Operating Group will use these proceeds for general corporate purposes including growth of its existing business or expanding into new lines of business or geographic markets. 

TPG’s key dealmakers will stay with the company

TPG’s key dealmakers will remain part of the company when it goes public including David Bonderman, 79, founding partner, non-executive chairman and director and Jim Coulter, 62, founding partner, executive chairman and director.

See Also: KKR transition highlights challenge for private-equity titans in creating succession plans; ‘Some managers don’t ever want to retire’

TPG CEO Jon Winkelried, 62, moved into his current job earlier this year after being a partner and co-CEO of TPG since 2015.

In August, TPG closed the purchase of a 30% stake in DirecTV, U-verse and AT&T TV from AT&T
T,
+0.42%
for $1.8 billion.

TPG senior adviser Mark Fields in October was named interim CEO of Hertz Global Holdings
HTZ,
+0.08%.

See Also: Goldman Sachs’s private-equity business has been a ‘black box,’ but now it’s opening up