Why Permira: Interviews, Careers, & Portfolio

Key things you need to know about the British private equity firm Permira for your career in finance

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Permira Overview

Permira is a British investment firm that specializes in growth equity, buyout, and credit funds.

The firm’s funds are backed by institutional investors such as banks, pension funds, insurance companies, high net worth individuals, and asset managers.

Permira primarily supports companies in the technology, services, consumer, and healthcare sectors with proven growth prospects.

The firm aims to improve the medium to long-term value of businesses via M&A, spin-offs, and organic growth. Permira’s exit strategy is typically the sale of companies to other companies or public offerings.

Nicholas Ferguson and partners founded Permira in 1985. The firm is currently located in London, UK.

Permira AUM

According to publicly available data, Permira has over €77 billion in assets under management.

Permira Interview Process & Questions

Firms can always modify their interview process with each candidate. However, the general nature of the process stays the same at Permira (or a firm like it). Here’s what you can likely expect:

4-6 rounds of interviews
Junior investment professionals or the HR team conduct the first rounds, while more senior folks handle the later rounds
Unless it’s “on-cycle” or “on-campus” recruiting, the entire process can last multiple weeks

Be prepared to answer a mixture of behavioral questions, technical / investing questions, and fit questions when you interview at Permira.

Check out my Growth Equity Interview Guide if you need help preparing for interviews.

Why Permira

“Why this firm” is one of the frequently asked and most important questions you’ll encounter during interviews.

If you’ve done networking, this is a great opportunity to mention whoever you’ve met at the firm and how they’ve positively influenced your decision to apply at the firm.

Moreover, it’s important to do some research about the firm before attending interviews.

One of the best ways to learn about a firm is to listen to interviews with its founders, investors, and employees. You can also read articles and news about the firm.

Here’s an interview with Tara Alhadeff, Partner at Permira

More interviews

Permira Case Study

Case studies are almost always part of interviews. That’s because case studies help firms assess the communication skills and technical knowledge of their applicants.

Most case studies at firms like Permira center around investment recommendations and financial modeling. However, if you’re applying for a junior role, your interviewers may ask you to perform a cold calling case study as well.

For in-depth video lessons on case studies, I invite you to check out my Growth Equity Interview Guide.

Permira Salary & Compensation

The estimated total pay for Analysts and Associates at Permira according to Glassdoor is $79,499 and $78,170 per year, respectively.

These figures represent the median and can still change depending on your experience, education, and skills.

Analyst

Associate

Permira Careers, Jobs, & Internships

If you’re interested in working at Permira, check out our job board to see open roles for them and other similar firms.

Permira Portfolio & Investments

According to Crunchbase, Permira has made 41 investments across 15 funds. Some of their notable deals include AltamarCAM Partners, BioCatch, and FullStory.

Notable Transaction: GWI

GWI provides insights at scale which enables the top brands, media organizations, and agencies around the world to gain deeper understanding of their target audiences.

Through GWI’s user-friendly platform, their clients are able to have faster and deeper understanding of their audiences.

On February 1, 2022, GWI raised $180+ million in Series B funding that was led by Permira.

Alex Melamud, Principal at Permira, said that the demand for accurate consumer data will continue to increase – especially for agencies, brands, and media organizations – which is the reason behind the strategic investment.

The funding was allocated for GWI’s improvement of their SaaS platform so they can capture more data points from consumers worldwide including those from underserved segments.

Next Steps

To make sure you maximize your chance of getting selected for the role when you interview at Permira (or a firm like it), I highly suggest you check out my Growth Equity Interview Guide.

Growth Equity Interview Guide is a self-paced online course that contains step-by-step video lessons which cover growth modeling, valuation, case studies, and all other topics that firms typically ask during interviews.

Get the course and make your preparation easier and more effective!