Beechbrook Capital has raised EUR67m at the first close of its latest fund, Beechbrook Mezzanine II.
With pledges of a further EUR25m for additional closes later in the year, Beechbrook is well on course for its target fund size of EUR100m to EUR120m.
Beechbrook Mezzanine II has been backed by six institutional investors, including the European Investment Fund and the UK Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (in conjunction with the Business Finance Partnership scheme), both of which are responding to the continuing dearth of funding available to lower mid-market companies from banks and mainstream institutional lenders.
Beechbrook specialises in supporting smaller and medium-sized private companies with an enterprise value of EUR10m to EUR100m across a range of industries in the UK and Northern Europe. Its team of investment professionals, led by Nick Fenn and Paul Shea, has already identified a promising pipeline of investment opportunities. They expect to make several investments before the end of 2013.
Beechbrook’s first fund, which raised around EUR100m, is fully invested in a portfolio comprising 16 companies across its four target regions: the UK and Ireland, the Nordics, Benelux and the German-speaking countries.
