Pragma II exceeds EUR300m target

01 April 2008

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Fund

Pragma Capital has held a final close on its second fund Pragma II FCPR at EUR345m, exceeding its original target of EUR300m. Pragma II had a hard-cap of EUR350m. The fund was raised with the London-based fund placement group at Deloitte acting as international placement adviser and with Claude Harmant acting as French placement adviser. Salans advised on the legal structure (French FCPR) of the fund. Pragma II held its first closing in March 2007 at around EUR170m. The new fund follows on from Pragma's previous fund which closed at EUR236m in 2002.

Investors

Pragma II attracted an equal mix of domestic and international investors including funds-of-funds, insurance companies, pension funds and family offices. Pan-European investors provided around half of the total fund. The majority of investors in the previous fund such as AXA, BNP Banco Espirito Santo, AGF and the UK-based Caledonia all subscribed to the new fund along with 20 new European institutions including Foreign & Colonial.

Investments

Pragma II will be a continuation of the strategy established for Pragma I, focusing on investments in mid-sized companies with an enterprise value of between EUR50-250m with preference for companies in the EUR75-150m range. Pragma II expects to make 10 to 12 investments of EUR10-35m for a majority stake. Pragma II has already completed two investments, acquiring removal company Demeco (November/December 2007, Page 37) and backing the tertiary buyout of B2B retail group Retif which valued the company at EUR340m (January 2008, Page 41).

People

The new fund will be managed by Pragma Capital's partners Gilles Gramat, Jean-Pierre Creange, Stephane Monmousseau and Christophe Ramoisy as well as Michel Chabanel and Pascal Gagna.

Name: Pragma II

Closed on: EUR345m

Focus: Mid-market buyouts

Contact: Stephane Monmousseau

Address: Pragma Capital S.A., 13 avenue Hoche, 75008 Paris, France

Tel: +33 158 36 49 66

Advisers: Salans (Legal).