Akin Gump has advised Swedish e-commerce investor eEquity on the launch of its fourth fund, eEquity IV, which has raised SEK1.6 billion (USD195 million). The fund will support scale-ups and high-growth SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and small mid-caps in several EU member states, with a focus on Nordic countries.
The newly launched joint European Commission and European Investment Fund (EIF) “European Scale-up Action for Risk Capital” (ESCALAR) pilot program, backed by the Investment Plan for Europe, made its first investment, EUR37.5 million, into the fund.
Patrik Hedelin, managing partner at eEquity, says: “We are very pleased with the fund size of eEquity IV which allows us to support more entrepreneurs for longer and to continue to develop eEquity as a firm. The investment from ESCALAR was relatively complicated to handle due to the complexity in the distribution waterfall. We have, for a long time, been advised by John Daghlian and Mary Lavelle and their colleagues at Akin Gump, which has repeatedly been exceptionally valuable for us. Their team has impressive knowledge, experience and creative skills that are very hard to find these days.”
John Daghlian, who led the Akin Gump team in London, says: “We are delighted to have advised longstanding client eEquity in relation to the launch of this new fund, which has taken on innovative new investments from the EIF and ESCALAR, which it will use to support SMEs facing increased financial challenges owing to the pandemic.”
In addition to Daghlian, the Akin Gump team advising eEquity included partner Mary Lavelle and counsel Simon Ellis in London.
