Andrew Nikou

Andrew Nikou is the founder, managing partner and CEO of OpenGate Capital, a global private buyout firm.[1] The firm is focused on the acquisition of lower middle market, non-core divisions of larger companies located around the world. From its offices in Los Angeles, CA, and Paris, France, the firm seeks to acquire change-intensive and underperforming businesses ripe for transformation.[2] To date, the firm has completed more than 30 transactions and has acquired more than $8 billion in gross consolidated revenues. The firm and its founder are best known for their acquisition of TV Guide Magazine in December 2008,[3] and the publication's turn to profitability in the first quarter of 2010.[4]

Nikou is actively involved with the management of each of the legacy companies his firm invests in including those acquired prior to raising institutional capital.

Nikou has received recognition for his business achievements. In 2012, Nikou was a recipient of The M&A Advisor's "Top 40 Under 40" award,[5] for the West Region. In 2010, Nikou was named a Top Dealmaker of 2010 by Mergers & Acquisitions magazine,[6] and was dubbed a "private equity whiz" by international business and private equity publications.

Early years

Nikou was born in 1977 in Vancouver, British Columbia. His parents left their native Tehran before the Iranian Revolution and relocated to Canada, later moving with Nikou to California when he was four years old. His father, who majored in mathematics at a German university, worked at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Nikou grew up with a passion for trading baseball cards and competing in breakdancing competitions.[7] He was bullied in school for being short.[8] Nikou graduated from William Howard Taft Charter High School in Woodland Hills, California, where he was active in the Persian Community.[9] Nikou studied finance at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.[10] After graduating, he worked for the Patent and License Exchange, a start-up financed by Softbank Capital.[11]

Business

In 2001, Nikou began his career in private equity at Platinum Equity. At age 25, he moved to Paris to help open the firm's first European office.[12] At Platinum Equity, he expanded the firm's international offices in Europe.[13] In 2004, he left Platinum Equity and moved back to Los Angeles to start his own global investment firm.

In 2005, Nikou founded OpenGate Capital with $30,000 from his own savings. He turned to a handful of family offices for funding of his first deal.[14] Under Nikou's leadership, the firm has bought distressed or neglected divisions of Fortune 500 companies such as Philips, Schlumberger, Arvin Meritor, Stora Enso and Cascades (company).[15] In 2006, OpenGate purchased OMMIC, a former division of Philips. OpenGate sold OMMIC to Egalux SA Luxembourg in 2008. A notable OpenGate Capital turnaround was an acquisition from the power company Areva.[16] In 2013 OpenGate sold remaining interest in Models One Ltd., the European supermodel agency which represents Alessandra Ambrosio, Irina Shayk and Bar Refaeli.[17][18]

More than half of OpenGate's deals to date have been cross-border transactions in North America, Western Europe, and Latin America.

In 2008, Nikou negotiated the deal for OpenGate Capital to acquire TV Guide for $1 and $50 million in assumed liabilities from owner Rovi Corporation (previously Macrovision). Later that year, Nikou led OpenGate Capital's bid for McGraw-Hill Companies BusinessWeek magazine, then withdrew from the bidding.[19] Also in 2009, OpenGate purchased children's publishers Fleurus Presse and Junior Hebdo from Groupe Le Monde.[20] In 2010, Nikou was behind the OpenGate bid for Newsweek, owned by the Washington Post Company, but the firm did not acquire the publication.[21] Nikou has provided his expertise on buying into the media business to various trade publications.[22]

Nikou increased OpenGate's pace of international acquisitions in the past three years. In 2012, OpenGate Capital acquired the Latin American operations of Getronics from the Dutch conglomerate, KPN. In 2011, the firm acquired NorPaper Avot Vallée, a specialty paper manufacturer based in France. And in 2010, OpenGate acquired Brazilian-based Philips Business Communications, since renamed Sopho, and Finland-based KotkaMills, a laminating paper and wood business.[23][24] Also in 2010, Nikou led the acquisition of Nicole Farhi, a global fashion brand, from French Connection. Designer Nicole Farhi described Nikou as a "tough businessman" with whom she has "lovely rapport."[25]

In July 2016, OpenGate closed its first institutional fund, OpenGate Capital Partners I, at $305 million, exceeding its target of $300 million and raising about twice what the average new private equity fund does, according to Preqin.[26] As of August 2018, OpenGate's first fund has completed eight platform investments, five of which had closed in 2016.[27]

In November 2016, OpenGate Capital completed the acquisition of the zinc products business of the Belgian company Umicore for $150 million in debt and equity.[28] The deal was the fifth platform investment from OpenGate's debut fund.[29] OpenGate rebranded the business EverZinc; within Umicore it had generated $425 million in revenue in 2015.[30]

Several pre-fund, legacy investments that were made with the personal capital of Andrew Nikou and the Partners at OpenGate Capital were sold: Benvic was sold to InvestIndustrial in December of 2017, NorPaper Avot-Vallee was sold in 2018 to a private investor, and in January of 2019, NAKAN (the largest division within Ivy Group) was sold to Westlake Chemical Corporation.

In October of 2019, OpenGate Capital closed on the firm's second institutional fund with approximately $585 million in commitments. In that same year, the firm also completed six platform investments, and one add-on, all within the second fund.

Power Partners Inc., the first investment completed in OpenGate's first fund, was fully realized through the sale to Pioneer Transformers, a portfolio company of Mill Point Partners.

Purchase and plant closing of Golden Guernsey Dairy

Prior to raising its first institutional fund, OpenGate also acquired the Waukesha, Wisconsin plant and brand rights to Golden Guernsey Dairy as the result of an antitrust divestment of Dean Foods, which was required to sell the plant to purchase GGD's other plants in the state.[31]

On January 5, 2013, Golden Guernsey ceased operations without notice in an alleged violation of the State of Wisconsin's mass layoff/shutdown regulations. The Golden Guernsey plant employed over 100 workers.[32][33]

Closing of PennySaver USA and other companies

Mr. Nikou shut down several other companies, including PennySaver USA and Hamilton Scientific. Several lawsuits have been filed claiming OpenGate and Mr Nikou did not follow proper protocol under the WARN Act when firing hundreds of employees from both PennySaver and Hamilton Scientific.[34][35][36]

Philanthropy

Nikou is a Board Member of the X Prize Foundation Innovation Board, holds seats on the Board of Overseers at the Hammer Museum Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. Mr Nikou is also a Media Council Member at The Paley Center for Media. In 2014, it was announced that Nikou was forming a partnership with businessman, Ricardo Salinas, to bring Esperanza Azteca Youth Orchestra to Los Angeles through a partnership with the city's mayor, Eric Garcetti.[37] On October 7, 2014, an official ceremony was held to celebrate the inauguration of the first Esperanza Azteca America program at the Florence Nightingale Middle School in Los Angeles.[38][39][40] In September 2016, Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo performed at a Los Angeles benefit for Esperanza Azteca.[41] Nikou also supports other local charities including Children Uniting Nations[42] and the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.

Personal

Nikou, who works in Los Angeles, is married with children and resides in Nevada.[43]

References
  1. "Executive Profile: Andrew Nikou," Bloomberg Businessweek, http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=27329072&privcapId=23062926&previousCapId=23062926&previousTitle=OpenGate%20Capital, 10-17-2011
  2. "Capital Markets: OpenGate Capital," Bloomberg BusinessWeek, http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=23062926, 10-17-2011
  3. "Meet The Private Equity CEO Who's In Talks For His Own Reality Show," Julia La Roche, Business Insider, 8-16-2011, http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-08-16/wall_street/29980017_1_private-equity-platinum-equity-pehub Archived 2012-04-02 at the Wayback Machine, 10-17-2011
  4. "TV Guide is Profitable," Luisa Beltran, 6-17-2010, PEHub, http://www.pehub.com/?s=tv+guide+profitable&image.x=0&image.y=0&image=searchsubmit, 10-17-2011
  5. http://www.maadvisor.html%5B%5D
  6. "Top Dealmaker Andrew Nikou: The founder of Opengate Capital is making a name for himself on reclamation projects," Danielle Fugazy, Mergers & Acquisitions, 12-7-2010, http://www.themiddlemarket.com/maj/2010_25/andrew-nikou-213884-1.html, 10-17-2011
  7. Bova, Dan (2016-10-20). "Bullied as a Kid, This Founder Now Runs a $5 Billion Company. Here's What He's Doing to Help Others". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
  8. Bova, Dan (2016-10-20). "Bullied as a Kid, This Founder Now Runs a $5 Billion Company. Here's What He's Doing to Help Others". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
  9. La Roche, Julia. "Meet The Private Equity CEO Who's In Talks For His Own Reality Show". Business Insider. Business Insider. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  10. "Top Dealmaker Andrew Nikou: The founder of Opengate Capital is making a name for himself on reclamation projects," Danielle Fugazy, Mergers & Acquisitions, 12-7-2010, http://www.themiddlemarket.com/maj/2010_25/andrew-nikou-213884-1.html, 10-17-2011
  11. "Top Dealmaker Andrew Nikou: The founder of Opengate Capital is making a name for himself on reclamation projects," Danielle Fugazy, Mergers & Acquisitions, 12-7-2010, http://www.themiddlemarket.com/maj/2010_25/andrew-nikou-213884-1.html, 10-17-2011
  12. "Top Dealmaker Andrew Nikou: The founder of Opengate Capital is making a name for himself on reclamation projects," Danielle Fugazy, Mergers & Acquisitions, 12-7-2010, http://www.themiddlemarket.com/maj/2010_25/andrew-nikou-213884-1.html, 10-17-2011
  13. "OpenGate buys TV Guide," Matt Levin, Private Equity International, 10-14-2008, http://www.peimedia.com/PrintView.aspx?aid=29382&type=2&hashID=FDC160D97000B0F9E4D7B747FE184DA52F5F6A47, 10-17-2011
  14. "Top Dealmaker Andrew Nikou: The founder of Opengate Capital is making a name for himself on reclamation projects," Danielle Fugazy, Mergers & Acquisitions, 12-7-2010, http://www.themiddlemarket.com/maj/2010_25/andrew-nikou-213884-1.html, 10-17-2011
  15. "TV Guide, Once Master of the Airwaves, Tries to Survive in a Competitive Category," Stephanie Clifford, New York Times, 12-8-2008, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/business/media/08guide.html, 10-17-2011.
  16. "TV Guide, Once Master of the Airwaves, Tries to Survive in a Competitive Category," Stephanie Clifford, New York Times, 12-8-2008, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/business/media/08guide.html, 10-17-2011.
  17. "OpenGate Buys UK Modeling Agency," PEHub, 1027-2009, http://www.pehub.com/tag/opengate-capital/ Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine, 10-17-2011
  18. Entertainment Close Up. "OpenGate Capital Sells Remaining Interest in European Supermodel Agency Models 1 to Management Team". Highbeam Research. Highbeam Research. Archived from the original on 5 April 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  19. "OpenGate, Zuckerman drop BusinessWeek bid," Anupreeta Das, Reuters, 10-6-2009, https://www.reuters.com/article/2009/10/06/businessweek-idUSN0643496820091006, 10-17-2011
  20. "Nicole Farhi Buyer OpenGate Set to Announce Three More Deals," David Altaner, Bloomberg, 3-15-2010, https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a2AnwxqSzXBI, 10-17-2011
  21. "Bids Submitted for Newsweek Sale," New York Times, 6-3-2010, http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/bids-submitted-for-newsweek-sale/, 10-17-1011
  22. "Deal or No Deal: 10 Rules for Buying into the Media Business," Dan Colarusso, Business Insider, 5-9-2010, http://www.businessinsider.com/deal-or-no-deal-10-rules-for-buying-into-the-media-business-2009-5, 10-17-2011
  23. "OpenGate Capital Acquires Philips Business Communications in Brazil," Latin America Venture Capital, 3-18-2010, http://lavca.org/2010/03/18/opengate-capital-acquires-philips-business-communications-in-brazil/, 10-17-2011
  24. "OpenGate buys Cascades recycled box makers," Los Angeles Business, 6-14-2011,http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/news/2011/06/14/opengate-buys-cascades-recycled-box.html, 10-17-2011
  25. "A different style of double act," Emma Jacobs, Financial Times, 9-10-11, http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/f922f956-dacc-11e0-a58b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1b4DytZKS, 10-17-2011
  26. Lee, Armie. "The Deal: OpenGate's Entree to OPM". OpenGateCapital.com. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  27. Witkowsky, Chris. "Andrew Nikou, OpenGate founder, talks challenges of raising a first-time fund". pehub.com. PE Hub. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  28. "Umicore completes sale of zinc units to U.S. private equity firm". Reuters. 2016-11-28. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  29. "OpenGate seals fifth platform deal, moves through debut fund - PE Hub". PE Hub. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  30. "OpenGate Capital Acquires Belgian Zinc Supplier Umicore | Los Angeles Business Journal". labusinessjournal.com. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  31. "Investment firm to buy Dean Foods dairy plant," BusinessWeek, 8-15-2011, http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9P4IBO80.htm, 10-17-2011,
  32. Bohr, Nick (7 January 2013). "State DWD takes steps to help Golden Guernsey workers; Workers may be eligible for 60 days' pay". WISN-TV. Archived from the original on 2013-01-26. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  33. Engel, Jeff (7 January 2012). "Golden Guernsey Dairy abrupt closing leaves workers, state seeking answers". The Business Journal of Milwaukee. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  34. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/opengate-668424-employees-pennysaver.html
  35. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-08-07. Retrieved 2016-02-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  36. https://www.pehub.com/2015/06/opengate-gets-sued-for-alleged-warn-act-violations/
  37. Salinas, Grupo. "Photo Release -- Esperanza Azteca Youth Orchestra to Expand to Los Angeles". Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  38. "Public-Private Partnership Launches Orchestra Program for Underprivileged Los Angeles Youth". Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  39. Esperanza Azteca America launches first program in Los Angeles
  40. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wnVEQVL8FE
  41. Desk, BWW News. "Plácido Domingo Performs With Esperanza Azteca Youth Orchestra". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  42. "TV Guide Owner Arrives at Children Uniting Nations Oscars," Getty Images, 307-2010, http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/97532663?esource=life_license, 10-17-2011
  43. La Roche, Julia. "Meet The Private Equity CEO Who's In Talks For His Own Reality Show". Business Insider. Business Insider. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
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