Karmijn Kapitaal nears €50m fund target

Ellie Pullen
05 September 2013

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Netherlands-based, female-led private equity firm Karmijn Kapitaal has almost reached the €50m target for its maiden fund, Karmijn Kapitaal I, which is due to close next month.

As of December last year, when the firm completed its second investment by acquiring a minority stake in Amsterdam-based YouMedical, the fund had accumulated around €30m and Karmijn stated that it would "remain open to investors for a few more months".

Désirée van Boxtel of Karmijn confirmed to unquote" that the fund is now nearly at its €50m target and will hold its final close in October.

The firm last month completed its third investment by buying Dutch lingerie company MD Group out of bankruptcy with its founder and former owner Marlies Dekkers. Karmijn took a majority stake in the company.

Karmijn, formerly Juneau Private Equity, has made a name for itself due to its specific criteria when investing in a company. The GP is committed to investing only in companies that have a female CEO or a management team that is 25-75% female.

The firm invests in Netherlands-headquartered, later-stage companies that have an EBIT of more than €500,000 and at least five years of operating history. Karmijn predominantly backs companies operating in the production and trade industries, and does not invest in financial institutions, real estate or the biotechnology sector.

Typically, the firm invests €2-7.5m per transaction and is involved in both growth capital and buyouts, specifically management buyouts and management buy-ins. Karmijn is led by Désirée van Boxtel, Hadewych Cels and Cilian Jansen Verplanke.

Karmijn justifies its strict criteria by stating on its website that gender-diverse companies "generate 10% higher return on equity and 48% higher EBIT" as well as claiming that companies with more women board directors "outperform those with the least women on the board by 53% higher return on equity and 66% higher return on invested capital".

The firm's first investment took place in April 2012, when Karmijn acquired Enrico, a Dutch wholesale distributor of Mediterranean food products.