UK regional lower middle market private equity firm, Palatine Private Equity, has held the first and final close of Palatine Private Equity Fund III at its hard-cap of GBP220 million, exceeding the size of the firm’s second fund, which raised GBP150 million in 2013.
Evercore Private Funds Group acted as the exclusive global placement agent for the fundraise.
Fund III launched and closed in just eleven weeks and was significantly oversubscribed, attracting commitments from a globally diverse group of investors including UK, European, N American and Asian public and private pension plans, insurance companies, funds of funds, family offices and high net worth individuals.
The final close of Fund III follows the success of Palatine Private Equity Fund II, which is fully invested having completed ten platform investments including the buyout of John Charcol and Towergate Financial Planning, now rebranded as Wren Sterling; the secondary buyout of Character World, the UK’s leading licensed bedding specialist; and the buyout of WHP, a service provider to the mobile telecoms sector.
Palatine was founded in 2005 and raised its maiden GBP100m fund in 2007, which has generated market-leading returns, including XLN Telecom (4.5x return), Air Energi (3x return) and Hallmark Hotels (2x return).
Gary Tipper, managing partner of Palatine Private Equity, says: “We appreciate the continued support from our existing investors and the vote of confidence from our new partners. Almost 100% of existing investors re-committed with nearly all increasing their commitment size. We are similarly delighted to have attracted five new LPs to join our high calibre and geographically diverse investor base.
“We are very excited about the potential for Fund III and look forward to continuing our focus on providing a Partner led approach to deals in the UK regional lower mid-market. We could have raised a significantly larger fund given the level of interest from investors, but we resisted that temptation, so we can continue to focus on our existing market space where we believe there is significantly less competition.”
Richard Anthony, CEO of Evercore’s Private Funds Group, adds: “We are thrilled with how this fundraise has played out. The sheer level of investor interest and moreover, their willingness to move quickly to secure an allocation is undoubtedly a testament to the strength and quality of the Palatine team and track record.”
Fund III will continue Palatine’s investment strategy of providing a partner led approach to deals in the UK regional lower middle market.
Richard Anthony, Alexander Rayden, Meredith Bourne, Anisa Javeri and Christopher Mockford of Evercore Private Funds Group acted as Global Placement Agent. Kate Downey, Mateja Maher, Suzannah Hacking and Sarah Dillon of Kirkland & Ellis International acted as Legal Advisor to Palatine Private Equity.
