RiverRock European Capital Partners LLP has held the second institutional close for its European Opportunities Fund (EOF). The close is built upon new major UK and continental European institutional investors.
The European Opportunities Fund is a five year fund targeting direct lending to strong, small to mid-sized European companies that are looking for growth or working capital in order to build their businesses. The fund typically invests between five and fifteen million Euros in each company and works actively with the management to strengthen and grow these companies.
The second close brings the fund to approximately EUR120 million (USD160 million) in commitments and positions it well for its final close in June of this year.
CIO of the fund, Jason Carley (pictured), says: “Opportunities in the European lending space continue to grow as banks across the region reduce the capital they are prepared to invest in the SME sector. This is jeopardising growth, jobs and indeed the "SME bedrock" of many economies. We look forward to continuing to work with successful companies facing financing challenges due to the lack of lending across Europe."
RiverRock CEO Florian Lahnstein says: "We appreciate the support of our new and existing investors in getting us to this second close. In a tough fundraising environment we have gained the trust of many traditional private equity investors who were looking for the right credit fund product. We expect more of these type of investors to join our final close."
