NBPE Books $299 Million in Realizations, Targets NAV Recovery

By Marcus Bennett

NB Private Equity Partners (LON:NBPE) reported $299 million in year-to-date investment realizations and signaled more portfolio recycling ahead, after a 12-month net asset value total return that Chairman William Maltby openly described as disappointing. NAV growth came in at 4% over the trailing 12 months, while the share price total return reached 7.4% through Sept. 30.

Speaking at the company's 2026 Capital Markets Day, Maltby said the shares have typically traded at a 25% to 30% discount to NAV — a level the board considers unjustified. For practitioners, the gap between the two return figures is the real signal: the market is paying less than the book value of the assets, and management is now engineering the portfolio to close it.

What drove the realizations?

The company invested $185 million across 10 new investments during the year and returned $182 million to shareholders through buybacks and dividends — a 78% increase from the prior year. Investments made since 2024 now account for 28% of the portfolio.

The $299 million in realizations breaks down into three routes:

• $98 million from organic exits;
• $120 million from sales into continuation vehicles (funds that buy holdings from an older vehicle, usually managed by the same sponsor);
• $81 million from proactive transactions initiated by Neuberger.

Peter von Lehe, Head of Investment Solutions at Neuberger, said the proactive sales closed at a modest discount to recent valuations but returned three times their original cost and generated a 17% internal rate of return over their lives. He noted NBPE has deliberately sold older investments where most value creation had already occurred, then redeployed the capital. The company holds 68 direct investments alongside 47 private equity sponsors.

Maltby acknowledged that some sales of older assets at discounts depressed NAV growth, but said they helped rebalance the company toward younger businesses. The portfolio also sold OneMonroe to a continuation vehicle. Paul Daggett, a Neuberger managing director and NBPE program manager, identified FDH Aero and OneMonroe as the two largest exits.

Von Lehe said NBPE remains constructive about exit opportunities in 2027, while cautioning that major macroeconomic or geopolitical events could shift that outlook.

How is the portfolio performing underneath?

The fundamentals outpaced the NAV line. Daggett reported that underlying portfolio revenue grew 11% and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) grew 12% in the 12 months through June — up from 9% and 10% respectively in the preceding year, including both organic growth and acquisitions.

The generational split explains the recycling strategy. Investments made in 2024 and 2025 generated a 1.6-times return on invested capital and a 26% gross internal rate of return, Daggett said. By contrast, investments from 2019 and earlier declined 5% in value over the last 12 months — a 31-percentage-point gross IRR spread between the newest and oldest vintages.

New commitments included a stake in tax services provider Ryan and a co-investment in utility billing business Conservice. Daggett said NBPE also made five growth investments during the year, including Vinted; the other four remain undisclosed under confidentiality agreements, and von Lehe confirmed two of the positions are in AI model developers. In total, 39% of the portfolio was invested in 2022 or later, up from 19% a year earlier. NBPE had $185 million in available capital from cash and its credit facility on a pro forma basis after additional transactions.

What changes for shareholders?

The investment level stood at 113%, within the 110% to 120% targeted range, and Maltby said the company aims to bring it back to 105% to 110% over the longer term as realizations continue. That deleveraging path matters for NAV per share even before any new deal flow.

Von Lehe laid out the trade-off management weighs: repurchases at a discount immediately increase NAV per share, while new investments can compound over time but may take longer to generate returns. With $182 million already returned — up 78% year on year — the buyback lever is clearly in use.

"I think we are poised for NAV growth," Maltby said, pointing to the performance of newer investments and the opportunity to reinvest proceeds from older holdings.

One governance note: Maltby said this was his last Capital Markets Day as chairman and named David MacLellan as his successor.

NBPE is a London-listed FTSE-250 investment company investing directly in private companies alongside leading private equity managers, with a portfolio diversified by manager, sector, geography and size.