
Saga holds first close on €600m for eighth fund
Danish fund-of-funds manager Saga Private Equity has held a first close on €600m for its eighth fund, Saga VIII.
The new vehicle has a hard-cap of €700m and, upon reaching its target, will be larger than its predecessor, which held a final close on €600m in May 2019 and is now fully invested.
The GP started raising its latest fund in September 2020 and plans to continue fundraising into Q2 of 2021. It has carried out the fundraising process in-house.
Investors
The fund received commitments from both new and existing investors, with most of the LPs being existing investors. They include institutional investors such as insurance companies and pension funds from Europe, a few foundations and a few large family offices.
Investments
Saga VIII will follow the same strategy as its predecessors, and focus purely on buyout funds in the micro, small, and mid-market in Europe and North America. Saga partner Jesper Knutssøn told Unquote that the GP may carry out secondaries and co-investments as well, but that these will "only be done with managers we have an existing relationship with". The GP plans to make 12-16 investments from the new fund.
Knutssøn said the fund will "look for operationally active fund managers that can create value in the underlying portfolio companies". The GP, although sector agnostic, avoids energy and high-cyclical sectors. The new fund has already been used to make a few commitments.
The GP currently has €4.8bn in committed capital under management across eight funds.
People
Saga Private Equity – Jesper Knutssøn (partner); John Danielsen (managing partner).
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