Simon Pillar, Sydney, AUS
Simon Pillar is the Managing Director of Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) and has an exceptional background in business. PEP is the largest local private equity firm in Australia and New Zealand. Funds managed by PEP have made more than thirty operating company investments, and more than 100 bolt-on acquisitions. PEP has twenty years’ experience executing core investment strategy with market-leading returns of 47% gross IRR over the past ten years. Returns are driven by transformational profit improvement. PEP VI closed in June 2020 at the hard cap of A$2.5 billion. PEP has also raised a Secure Assets Fund of A$360 million to invest in infrastructure-like assets with contracted base cashflows where it can apply its formula of value addition to deliver mid-teen returns. The firm has approximately A$4.9 billion in assets under management. It is the largest private equity fund manager in Australasia as measured by FUA. The background of the PEP principals in strategy and implementation combines with the industry knowledge and operational experience of portfolio management teams to deliver full potential at individual operating companies. Success is based on a partnership model comprising agreed objectives, shared economics, and mutual trust. The PEP Funds target investments in a wide range of industries including: industrial products & services, energy, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, entertainment and 'big data'/financial services. A number of these businesses already have operations in Asia, and others are in the process of developing operations in the region. PEP is frequently recognized by the industry as a leader and has received many awards including Firm of the Year, Best LBO Deal of the Year, Private Equity Firm of the Year, and has been included in the list of Top 20 Consistent Performers Globally by Preqin.
Prior to founding PEP, Simon was a Partner with Bain & Company and worked as a strategy consultant in the US, Singapore, and Sydney. He started his working life as an engineer with The Royal Dutch/Shell Group in The Netherlands. Simon received a BSc (Eng) in Civil Engineering from the University of Bristol and an MBA from the Wharton School where he was a Thouron Scholar.
Until relocating to England in 2013, Simon was the chairman of Gospel Patrons Society in Australia. GPS was established in 2000 to encourage business people to think strategically about supporting gospel ministry with their time and talents as well as financially. Simon was also a collaborator in the book Gospel Patrons – People Whose Generosity Changed The World, and with the ministry that has emerged from that www.gospelpatrons.org
Watch this clip from the Peer Advisory Groups Learning Session with Simon Pillar on "How to Build a Great Company"