Seattle-based Evergreen Pacific Partners, Washington state’s largest private equity firm, has closed its second fund at USD425m, bringing its total assets under management to USD700mon beh
Seattle-based Evergreen Pacific Partners, Washington state’s largest private equity firm, has closed its second fund at USD425m, bringing its total assets under management to USD700mon behalf of investors including foundations, endowments, pension funds and local executives with experience in Evergreen’s target industries.
Investors in the new fund, mostly returning investors, include the Washington State Investment Board, the Public School Employee Retirement System of Pennsylvania, Credit Suisse and Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. Evergreen easily exceeded the fund’s target of USD400m, reaching its hard cap of USD425 in less than two months.
‘The close of this fund reflects our investor’s confidence in our investment process. We stayed consistent with our stated strategy and focus and our existing investors appreciated this,’ says T.J. McGill, one of Evergreen’s three co-founders and managing partners. ‘We will continue to focus on investing in companies in traditional industries based in the west.’
Evergreen invests in traditional buyouts, management-led buyouts, and growth equity investments involving middle-market companies in the western US and Canada. To date the firm has completed six transactions involving companies in Washington, Arizona and California in the manufacturing, distribution, construction, radio, cable television and consumer industries.
Three companies in the first fund are headquartered in Washington, Gene Juarez Salons & Spas, Nuprecon and Haney Truck Line, and together employ more than 2,300 people in the state. In several cases Evergreen has partnered with the original founders to complete a partial sale and provide human and financial capital to continue to grow the company, in others it has acquired 100 percent of the company.
‘Evergreen has an extensive network of financial partners that allows us to create the right funding structure for just about any type of transaction,’ says managing partner Michael Nibarger. ‘Our operating experience and capital enable our companies to take advantage of opportunities and accelerate their growth plans.’
Tim Bernardez, the third managing partner, adds: ‘We invest in and partner with great people and great companies and help them grow bigger, stronger and be more profitable. We expect to replicate this in the new fund.’
Evergreen Pacific’s acquisitions and investments also include Western Broadband (Phoenix, Arizona), Finest City Broadcasting (San Diego, California) and CST Environmental (Brea, California).
