Tag: Fundraise

FSN CAPITAL PARTNERS CLOSES NEW SEK 9.62 BILLION (€1.0 BILLION) NORDIC MID-MARKET BUYOUT FUND

 

FSN Capital Partners (“FSN”), a pan-Nordic mid-market private equity advisor, announces the final closing of FSN Capital V, which was oversubscibed at its hard cap. The Fund received strong support from existing and new investors, with total commitments of SEK 9.62bn (€1.0 billion).

fsn-logo_pngFSN Capital V held its final close on December 16th at its hard cap of SEK 9.62 billion (€1.0 billion), exceeding the SEK 8.5 billion (€870 million) target. The prior fund advised by FSN, FSN Capital IV, closed in 2013 at SEK 5.42 billion (€624 million).

The Fund’s investors comprise a well-diversified group including public and private pension funds, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, government agencies, asset managers, banks and funds of funds. FSN has also significantly broadened its international investor base, with new LPs secured from Asia, the Middle East and the United States. 29% of the total capital raised for FSN Capital V came from LPs based in North America, 13% from Asia and the Middle East, and 34% from Europe excluding the Nordic region. The Fund also attracted strong support from the Nordic LP community, with leading LPs from all four Nordic markets accounting for the remaining capital raised.

“We are delighted with the strong support we have received from existing LPs and are privileged to welcome a number of leading, blue chip investors from around the globe as new limited partners”, said Frode Strand-Nielsen, Managing Partner of FSN.

FSN Capital V will continue FSN’s proven investment strategy of targeting control buyout investments of Nordic mid-sized growth-oriented companies operating in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland where FSN believes it can generate long-term alpha returns for the investors. It will target companies with enterprise values typically between SEK 500 million and SEK 3 billion (approximately €50 million to €300 million) and operating in a broad range of industries and markets.

FSN will continue its strong focus on integrating sustainable and responsible investment practices into the investments.

“FSN Capital V is positioned in an attractive segment of the market as one of the largest middle-market focused funds in the Nordic region” said Peter Möller, Partner of FSN. Thomas Broe-Andersen, Partner of FSN, added “we continue to see a large number of attractive investment opportunities and are confident of delivering strong returns to the investors.”

 

LIVINGBRIDGE RAISES £660M TO INVEST IN UK SMES

 

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Livingbridge has successfully raised £660m, its largest fundraise to date, which it will focus on investing in SMEs across the UK.

 

 

The fund, Livingbridge’s eighth since it was founded in 1995, will invest in growth equity or buyout transactions of entrepreneurial, high growth companies predominantly in the UK. The fund will focus on investing in companies with enterprise values typically between £20m and £75m across a variety of sectors ranging from business and financial services to TMT, consumer markets and healthcare & education.

Known as Livingbridge 6, the fund has a diversified and global investor base with Limited Partners from across the UK, Europe, and America drawn from insurance companies, public and corporate pension funds, fund of funds and family offices.

The successful fundraise caps a busy period of activity for Livingbridge which saw the firm complete its 100th investment in April this year following the management buyout of Thomas J Fudges, a 100-year-old family business selling premium biscuits.

In total, Livingbridge has completed eight transactions since the start of the year, investing in businesses such as Southern Communications, one of the UK’s most established telecommunications business, digital recruitment specialist Up Group, and Direct Ferries, the world’s largest online ferry ticket aggregator. It has also successfully exited businesses such as corporate travel agent Reed & MacKay, IT infrastructure services provider Onyx and Frank Recruitment Group, a global staffing business.

This latest fundraise follows Livingbridge’s successful close of its Enterprise 2 fund in September 2015, which raised £220m to invest in smaller SMEs. Overall the Livingbridge platform is able to provide equity funding of £2m to £40m to companies of a range of sizes, specialising in supporting the management teams of fast growth businesses.

Wol Kolade, Managing Partner at Livingbridge said:
“We are delighted to have secured the support of such a high quality international investor base. This is testament to both our strong track record and the significant opportunity that exists to deliver excellent returns backing fast growth UK SMEs. The EU referendum result may have injected a degree of uncertainty into the UK economy but SMEs and entrepreneurs have proven time and time again that they are able to adapt and thrive in precisely this sort of environment.”