Verso Capital, a growth stage buyout investor with a special focus on carve-out situations, has launched a new EUR100 million sector agnostic fund.
The first investors in Verso Fund III are KRR III, Tesi, pension funds Ilmarinen, Varma and Elo, as well as Nokia, Valeado AB and Etrisk Oy, with a total investment commitment of EUR66 million.
The fund’s target size is EUR100 million and fundraising will continue until the end of 2020.
The fund acquires businesses within the EUR5-50 million revenue bracket but suffers from growth or profitability bottlenecks.
“The shift in the world economy forces companies to focus on their core activities. Verso has a quick and efficient process to carve out businesses that are not able to grow to their full potential in the current ownership,” says Anssi Kariola, managing partner, Verso Capital. “We build new growth companies from non-core businesses working in close co-operation with the current operative management.”
Typical cases include carve-outs from larger corporations and rearrangements of joint ventures, but the fund also invests in existing growth companies to help drive accelerated growth through M&A, said the firm.
With offices in Helsinki and Munich, Verso Capital invests across Europe with a focus on the Nordic, DACH and North-European markets.
Verso Fund III acquires businesses that would grow faster as new independent companies. Acquisition and investment targets can include non-core businesses inside larger companies, or any business that is unable to live up to its full potential under current ownership, according to the firm.
Businesses that were transferred to a new owner as part of a larger M&A transaction, but do not fully fit the buyer’s strategy, for example.
“Not all businesses can be optimally developed inside large organisations. We create new international growth companies by focusing on the needs of the business as an independent company,” explains Kariola.
