By Chibuike Oguh
(Reuters) - TPG said on Tuesday its after-tax distributable earnings rose to $199 million in the first quarter, up from $65 million a year earlier, adding that its private equity and impact investing businesses had delivered strong growth in asset sales.
TPG's result exceeded the average analyst estimate of $149 million calculated by financial data provider Refinitiv.
The performance was in line with Blackstone (NYSE:BX), KKR and Carlyle, which all reported bumper profits despite soaring inflation, rising interest rates and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"We weighted our exits towards full company sales instead of initial public offerings. That's because an IPO doesn't lock in the equity value for our fund investors," TPG Chief Financial Officer Jack Weingart said.
TPG said it generated $4.8 billion from cashing out its investments. That includes cybersecurity software provider McAfee, which TPG and Thoma Bravo sold to a consortium of investment firms in a $14 billion deal.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based firm also spent $4.4 billion on new acquisitions during the quarter.
"We're probably in the high end with respect to our ratio of monetizations to new investments," TPG Chief Executive Jon Winkelried told Reuters in an interview.
"Until recently, you heard about soaring valuations in the market and very high multiples. We felt we should be leaning into that in order to return capital to our limited partners at very attractive valuations."
Funds managed under TPG's private equity, healthcare and Asia business appreciated by 11%, while its real estate funds gained 6.2%. The private equity portfolios of Blackstone and Carlyle rose by 2.8% and 7%, respectively.
TPG said it ended the quarter with $120 billion of assets under management and $30.27 billion in unspent capital. TPG declared a divided of 44 cents per share, the first time it had announced a payout to investors since its IPO in January.
(This story refiles to correct paragraph 10 to say $30.27 billion in unspent capital, not $30.2 billion)