Down 2 Earth holds final close on €66.25m

The fund was launched in May 2013 and reached a first close last summer on €32m. The vehicle had an original target of €50-60m.

D2E was created last year by former Gimv senior executives Alain Keppens, Peter Kloeck and Wouter Verlinden, as well as Ivo Marechal, the former CEO of Belgian logistics group Essers.

The fund is believed to have standard terms and conditions, comprising a 2% management fee, 6% hurdle and 20% carry, according to Belgian daily De Standaard. Its holding period is five to eight years.

Bank Degroof acted as placement agent for the fund, while Stibbe provided legal advice and Argo Law provided tax advice.

Investors
The fund is mainly supported by CEOs and entrepreneurs, as well as industrial families and partners from previous transactions, according to D2E. It is believed to have around 100 LPs and a GP contribution of 4%, according to reports in the Belgian press.

Investments
D2E will invest in small- to mid-cap Belgian companies with revenues of €10-50m and EBITDA of €1-10m, with a focus on SMEs going through succession issues. The fund will execute both buyouts and growth capital transactions.

The fund has already made two investments. In August last year, D2E acquired Conteyor, a Merelbeke-headquartered provider of B2B reusable textile packaging systems.

Earlier this month the fund bought Hertecant Flanges, a Heultje-Westerlo-based manufacturer of stainless steel flanges for petro-chemical, power and utility plants.

People
D2E is run by Alain Keppens, Peter Kloeck, Wouter Verlinden and Ivo Marechal. Keppens joined Gimv as an investment director in 1992, working his way up to managing partner of sustainable cities at the firm in 2012 until his departure to launch D2E.

Kloeck was an investment director at Gimv from 2000 to 2012. Verlinden was a senior investment manager at Gimv from 2005 to 2011, when he left to become a director at EY.

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