F&C has held the first close of F&C European Capital Partners II, a European mid-market fund of funds, with commitments of EUR90m from institutional investors, including UK, Dutch and German pension funds.
The fund is the successor to F&C European Capital Partners, which closed with EUR173m of commitments in June 2008.
The fund will focus on investing in European mid-market buyout funds, incorporating primary funds, secondary funds and co-investments. The fund will have an emerging manager emphasis investing in around 15 to 25 funds with up to 30 per cent in co-investments. F&C defines the mid-market as companies with enterprise value between EUR25m and EUR500m.
This fund builds on the experience of F&C’s private equity funds team, headed by Hamish Mair (pictured). The team currently manages over EUR750m in six private equity fund of funds.
Mair says: “We are delighted to reach a first close of this new fund with the support of a number of our existing investors. The current market conditions, where there is considerable uncertainty and an uneven and only partially established economic recovery, makes for challenging fund raising, but it generally creates good buying conditions for those with capital to invest. Prices of private companies in the European mid-market have been falling and are now very attractive and it is our belief that focused and diligent investors should be able to buy well over the next three years or so and in due course make excellent returns when the economic background improves.”
F&C European Capital Partners II is likely to be open for up to 18 months, until 30 October 2014.
