Catalyst underlines its commitment to the Benelux

Catalyst, the UK-based venture capital firm focusing on the financial services sector, has opened an office in the Netherlands. The office will be run by Josef Krant and Herman Everdingen, former managers with the Dutch investment bank Kempen & Co, itself acquired by Dexia for EUR 1bn in 2001. Krant has worked with Catalyst in the past, having represented Kempen as an institutional investor in Catalyst's first financial services fund, the European Financial Services Venture Fund (EFSVF), in 1999

Krant and Everdingen are now shareholders in Catalyst, and are now raising the firm’s second financial services vehicle, which was launched in June this year. The first EFSVF fund successfully secured £40m, and the second vehicle is confident of raising between EUR 70m and EUR 100m by the end of the year. The first fund received commitments from investors based principally in the Benelux region and, to a slightly lesser extent, Switzerland, and again with the latest fund, Benelux investors will form the core contingent. It is believed that Krant and Everdingen’s expertise and sound knowledge of the Benelux market will be beneficial for the fundraising process

On the back of the success of EFSVF, in November 2002 the group launched, in association with The Big Issue, its Social Sector Fund, targeting investments in a variety of sectors including health, education and the environment

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• GPs
• Benelux