ECI Partners has held the final closing for its 10th buyout fund, ECI 10, at the hard cap of GBP500m.
ECI launched its latest fundraising in early April 2014 with a target fund size of GBP400m.
The fund was raised predominantly from its existing institutional investors, who have contributed 80 per cent of the capital, with an average increase on prior commitments of 33 per cent. There were also five new investors.
ECI 10 comprises a total of 25 institutional investors from the UK, US, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. They include pension funds, fund of funds, insurance companies, endowments, family offices and sovereign wealth capital.
Founded as Equity Capital for Industry in 1976, ECI has now raised over GBP1.6bn of external capital since launch and is one of the UK’s longest-established private equity partnerships. This close also makes ECI the first private equity firm investing in UK-headquartered companies to raise a 10th buyout fund focused on the same strategy.
ECI 10 is a successor fund to ECI 9, a GBP437m fund which started investing in 2010, and will seek to employ the same investment strategy focused on growth buyouts with an enterprise value of between GBP10m to GBP150m.
Sean Whelan, ECI managing partner, says: “We would like to thank our existing and new investors for their strong support. 80 per cent of the capital raised for ECI 10 has come from existing investors, some of whom have now been investors with ECI for over 20 years. We are also delighted to welcome our new investors and look forward to developing long-term relationships with them.
“ECI is a proven investor in UK mid-market growth companies over many decades. Our success and this latest fundraising are a reflection of the quality and ambition of the management teams we have partnered with over the years.”
