Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe

Infobox Company
name = Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe

type = Limited liability company
genre =
foundation = 1979
founder = Pat Welsh, Russ Carson, Bruce Anderson, Rick Stowe
location_city =
area_served =
key_people = Jonathan Rather (CFO)
Fran Higgins (Director of Investor Relations)
industry = Private equity
products = Leveraged buyout, Growth capital, Mezzanine capital
services =
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
assets =
equity =
owner =
num_employees = 40+
parent =
divisions =
subsid =
slogan =
homepage = http://www.welshcarson.com/

Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (Welsh Carson or WCAS) is a private equity investment firm in the United States. Founded in 1979, it has organized 14 limited partnerships with total capital over $16 billion and is currently in the process of raising a new $4 billion private equity fund Welsh, Carson Anderson & Stowe XI. There are approximately 40 publicly traded companies that trace their roots to WCAS.

WCAS has developed a focus on growth companies in two industry sectors:
* Information & Business Services, including outsourcing, information technology, telephone directories and payment processing; and
* Healthcare, including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, hospitals and other medical facilities. Although historically, WCAS has made investments in telecommunications, the firm moved away from the sector after poor performance adversely impacted the performance of its eighth private equity fund.

WCAS has approximately 40 employees; including 15 general partners; based on Park Avenue in New York City.

Portfolio Investments

In information & business services, current and historical portfolio companies include:
*Alliance Data Systems
*Amdocs Limited
*BISYS Group
*Centennial Communications Corp.
*Dex Media, Inc. which was acquired from Qwest [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE4D6113DF933A1575BC0A9649C8B63&scp=16&sq=welsh+carson&st=nyt Qwest to Sell Yellow Pages For $7 Billion] (New York Times, 2002)] and later merged into R. H. Donnelley (NYSE:RHD) [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/business/04yellow.html?scp=1&sq=Donnelley+to+Acquire+Dex+Media+for+%244.2+Billion&st=nyt Donnelley to Acquire Dex Media for $4.2 Billion] (Bloomberg, 2005] ]
*FiServ, Inc.
*SunGard Data Systems, Inc.

In healthcare, examples of current or former public companies include
*Accuro Health (Nasdaq:ACDO)
*Lincare Holdings (Nasdaq:LNCR)
*MedCath (Nasdaq:MDTH) [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E1DA1739F937A25750C0A96E958260&scp=6&sq=welsh+carson&st=nyt KOHLBERG KRAVIS AND WELSH CARSON ACQUIRING MEDCATH] (New York Times, 1998)]
*Quorum Health Group which was acquired by Triad Hospitals, Inc.
*Select Medical Corporation [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401E0DD133AF93AA25753C1A9629C8B63&scp=12&sq=welsh+carson&st=nyt SELECT MEDICAL TO BE TAKEN PRIVATE IN A BUYOUT] (New York Times, 2004)]
*SHPS (formerly Sykes HealthPlan Services) [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01E1DE133EF937A25755C0A9669C8B63&scp=18&sq=welsh+carson&st=nyt SYKES SELLS EMPLOYEE BENEFITS UNIT IN RESTRUCTURING] (New York Times, 2004)]
*United Surgical Partners International [cite news |first=Walker |last=Duncan |title=Welsh Carson takes Surgis parent private |url=http://www.nashvillepost.com/news/2007/1/8/dallas_united_surgical_partners_agrees_to_welsh_carson_buyout_ |work=Nashville Post |date=2007=01=08 ] [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/business/09surgical.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=welsh+carson&st=nyt&oref=slogin United Surgical to Be Bought by Equity Firm for $1.8 Billion] (New York Times, 2007)]
*US Oncology [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE6DF1730F930A15750C0A9629C8B63&scp=17&sq=welsh+carson&st=nyt US ONCOLOGY AGREES TO $1.3 BILLION ACQUISITION] (New York Times, 2004)]

Investment Funds

WCAS’s investment funds invest in both larger leveraged buyout transactions and smaller deals through its buy-and-build strategy. The firm’s mezzanine capital funds are used as a captive source of financing for its private equity investments, despite potential conflicts of interest that may arise in the event of a liquidation of a portfolio company.

Since its founding in 1979, WCAS has raised ten private equity funds and four mezzanine capital funds and its 11th private equity fund is expected to be raised by the end of 2008:

Private Equity

*1979 - WCAS I ($33 million)
*1980 - WCAS II ($32 million)
*1983 - WCAS III ($81 million)
*1985 - WCAS IV ($178 million)
*1989 - WCAS V ($371 million)
*1993 - WCAS VI ($604 million)
*1995 - WCAS VII ($1.4 billion)
*1998 - WCAS VIII ($3.0 billion)
*2000 - WCAS IX ($3.8 billion)
*2005 - WCAS X ($3.3 billion)
*2008 - WCAS XI (TBD) [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/welsh-carson-sets-out-to-raise-45bn-790175.html Welsh, Carson sets out to raise $4.5bn] (The Independent, 2008)]

Mezzanine

*1987 - WCAS Capital Partners ($209 million)
*1990 - WCAS Capital Partners II ($354 million)
*1997 - WCAS Capital Partners III ($1.3 billion)
*2004 - WCAS Capital Partners IV ($1.3 billion)

Source: Private Equity Intelligence [ [http://www.prequin.com Private Equity Intelligence] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.welshcarson.com Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe] (Official Website)
* [http://www.hoovers.com/welsh-carson/--ID__54623--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml Hoovers Business Listing]
* [http://biz.yahoo.com/t/66/334.html Yahoo! Finance listing]