Barclays Private Equity, which specialises in pan-European mid market buy-outs, has announced the close of its third European mid-market fund.
Barclays Private Equity, which specialises in pan-European mid market buy-outs, has announced the close of its third European mid-market fund. Barclays Private Equity European Fund III has total commitments of EUR2.4bn, all of which come from the firm’s existing investors in Europe, the Gulf, Asia and the US.
‘We’re very pleased that our latest fund has had the same excellent response as funds I and II,’ says Tom Lamb, co-head of Barclays Private Equity. ‘The strength of the demand meant that we could close the fund at our desired level of commitments with our existing investors.
‘We had the opportunity to exceed significantly this level, but we believe that this is the optimum fund size for our pan-European mid-market investing. This level of investor support is further testament to our successful track record and the development of our business across continental Europe.’
Barclays Private Equity European Fund III has received financial commitments of around EUR1.7bn from 25 blue-chip investor groups including funds managed by Allianz Private Equity Partners, LGT Capital Partners, Morley Fund Management, Pantheon Ventures, Standard Life Investments and SVG Advisers, in addition to a EUR650m commitment from Barclays Capital.
Roger Jenkins, Barclays Capital’s head of principal investments and private equity, says: ‘Barclays Private Equity goes from strength to strength, and Barclays Capital is delighted to continue to support its great success with this EUR650 million commitment.’
As with the second fund, Barclays Private Equity plans to invest Fund III in businesses throughout Europe, predominantly the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.
Barclays Private Equity has developed sector expertise in financial services, healthcare, support services and consumer and travel in the UK, and pursues a more generalist approach in continental Europe.
Says Lamb: ‘Our strategy remains unchanged – to concentrate on mid-market buy-outs up to EUR500m, with a core focus on deals between EUR25m and EUR250m. Our 2005 fund is now over 85 per cent committed with more than 25 per cent of drawn capital already returned to investors. Our 2002 fund has already returned over 150 per cent of drawn capital.’
Among recent highlights, in September 2006, Barclays Private Equity’s Milan office completed the acquisition of a majority stake (56 per cent) of EUR Fiditalia, a market leader in the provision of secured personal loans. Since then the company has made six acquisitions in the same sector.
Last November 2006 LSL, one of the UK’s leading estate agency and surveying companies, was listed on the London Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of GBP211m. Barclays Private Equity arranged the firm’s GBP60m management buyout in July 2004 and its managed funds retained a 29 per cent stake at the listing.
In June this year Tuja, one of Germany’s leading temporary employment agencies, was sold to Adecco for EUR800m Barclays Private Equity led a buyout in March 2006 and supported the company through an aggressive buy-and-build strategy in which head count increased by 12,000 in 12 months.
