MiddleGround Capital (MiddleGround), a private equity firm that makes control investments in business-to-business (B2B) industrial and specialty distribution companies in the North American lower middle market, has held the final close of Fund I, MiddleGround Capital I, above the fund’s hard cap at USD459.5 million.
MiddleGround Capital was formed in May of 2018 by John Stewart, Lauren Mulholland and Scot Duncan and partnered with Archean Capital Partners (Archean) as its anchor investor for fund I.
“We knew right away there was something special about the MiddleGround team,” says Rob Lazaroff, a Partner at Archean. “We spoke to over forty references including former CEO’s, CFO’s and investors that previously worked with the team and we were impressed with the consistency of the level of respect they had for the MiddleGround team.”
“When we initially formed MiddleGround, we didn’t have any preconceived notions about whether or not to bring on an anchor investor,” says Mulholland. “Today, after closing our first fund in nine months, we can point to the continuous support of the Archean team as a key factor in our success.”
MiddleGround hired Credit Suisse’s Private Fund Group to serve as a placement agent for the fund.
“Credit Suisse and Archean were perfect partners for us as we embarked on this endeavour. In addition to all of the success we’ve had with the fundraise and the three deals we’ve completed along the way, we couldn’t be more proud and excited about the team we’ve built. Eight of us have previously worked together at multiple firms and this high level of continuity has given us a lot of confidence in our strategy. We have now built the team out to twenty one professionals with diverse backgrounds and expertise,” says Stewart. “We are striving to build something truly unique in the private equity space while making firm culture our top priority. We are humbled by the reception received from the people who have entrusted us with their careers.”
