eQ Asset Management held a record final closing of 160 million euros for the Northern Europe focused eQ PE VIII North Fund. In a very fast fund raising cycle, the fund held first closing in February 2016.
eQ PE VIII North is a private equity fund of funds investing equity capital in Northern European small and midcap unlisted companies. The portfolio will consist of approximately ten funds, including primary and secondary transactions, with 100-150 underlying companies diversified into various geographical areas, industries and development stages. All underlying companies are mature businesses with typically positive cash flow and profit.
“We have noticed a clear trend of more and more investors raising allocations to private equity,” says Staffan Jåfs, Head of Private Equity at eQ Asset Management Ltd. “The current level of interest rates, equity market volatility and the need to diversify holdings and seek returns are all contributing factors behind this. Some investors are making their very first private equity commitment. In addition to the record 160 million closing very fast, we also made a new record of the number of limited partners committing. eQ PE VIII fund has close to 80 limited partners at final closing, of which 38 are first time investors in eQ PE funds. eQ launches a new private equity fund annually, alternating between Europe and USA. Most of our clients are building a long term private equity program, which is an excellent way to arrive at a meaningful and well diversified private equity portfolio.
“The private equity team of eQ is one of the most experienced in the Nordic Countries with access to also fast committing funds. The track record of the team is outstanding. We will launch our next US fund in early 2017 and already now the interest for this fund is significant,” concludes Jåfs.
eQ PE VIII North has already committed in three new primary funds and closed a secondary transaction with a mature portfolio of German companies.
