DPE Deutschland IV holds final close on €1bn

Quest Fund Placement acted as placement agent, while P+P Pöllath + Partners provided legal advice.

The fund was registered in January 2020 and was on the road as of July 2020, as reported.

The fund's predecessor vehicle, DPE Deutschland III, held a final close in January 2017 on €575m.

DPE IV is the largest vehicle raised so far by DPE. Its debut fund had a total volume of €250m and closed in December 2007.

DPE has made 30 platform investments and 70 add-ons for its portfolio companies since its inception in 2007. The GP has made one platform acquisition and one exit so far in 2020, according to Unquote Data. The GP sold pharmaceutical ingredients producer Pharmazell to Bridgepoint in February 2020, netting an IRR of 22% and a 3.5x money multiple.

Investors
The fund received more than half of its commitments from new investors, according to a statement. The majority of its LP base (74%) comprises investors based in Europe. The fund also saw commitments from investors based in the US and Asia, who committed 21% and 5% of the fund volume respectively.

LPs in DPE III included fund-of-funds investor Astorius Capital, as well as Siemens and Finnish pension fund Merimies Eläkekassa, according to Unquote Data.

Investments
The fund will focus on DACH Mittelstand businesses, following the strategy of its predecessor vehicles. DPE IV will continue to deploy equity tickets of €20-60m in spite of its increased total volume.

It plans to make 15-18 investments, according to Unquote Data. The firm makes more than 50% of its investments via proprietary deals, outside structured auction processes.

DPE III made nine platform investments in total, the latest of which was construction equipment company B plus L in July 2020.

People
Deutsche Private Equity – Marc Thiery, Volker Hichert (managing partners, co-founders).

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• Topics
• Buyout
• DACH
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• Deutsche Private Equity