Bridgepoint staff scoop £2.5billion windfall

As share price surges on stock market debut . . .

StAFF and partners at private equity firm Bridgepoint are sitting on a windfall of £2.5bn following its blockbuster debut on the stock market.

As the owner of Burger King UK and arts and crafts retail chain Hobbycraft floated in London, 166 of its 310 employees sold shares worth £308m.

those same staff still hold a 56pc stake worth £2.1bn, after Bridgepoint’s shares soared by 29pc in their first day of trading from 350p to 452p.

the initial public offering (Ipo) gave a rare insight into the wealth circulating through private equity firms, which buy and sell other businesses to make a profit and are generally infamous for their secrecy.

the firms do not often list on the public market – in the UK, Bridgepoint’s only other sizeable listed peers are 3i and Intermediate Capital Group.

Bridgepoint, most famous for its past ownership of cafe chain pret a Manger, declined to reveal the identities of most of the 166 staff selling shares.

But three top partners have raked in £28m between them after flogging chunks of their stakes. Executive chairman William Jackson bagged £7.8m, chief financial officer Adam Jones scooped £4.1m, and Bridgepoint’s France and Southern Europe boss Frederic pescatori cashed in £16.5m as the stock began trading.

part of the proceeds will be used to gift shares in the company to long-standing workers, including postmen and cleaners. the trio are even wealthier on paper.

Jackson’s remaining 1.1pc stake is now worth £41.8m, Jones’s 0.6pc stake is worth £22.8m, and pescatori’s 2.3pc stake is worth £83.6m.

the stock market float comes amid growing scrutiny of the private equity industry, which has long been criticised for making drastic cuts at the companies they buy and loading them with debt in order to increase their profits when they eventually sell the businesses.

that focus has intensified in recent months amid accusations of ‘pandemic plundering’, as private equity firms have begun to snap up British companies on the cheap at a record rate.

But Bridgepoint – which started life as the private equity arm of Natwest – has insisted its move to list on the stock market will bring transparency to the murky world of private equity, and sources close to the company said it heralded ‘a new period of openness’.

An enthusiastic first day of trading yesterday added £840m onto the company’s value, taking it to £3.6bn.