Axcel VI holds EUR 800m final close

Axcel VI was registered in August 2019 and was launched in December 2019, according to Unquote Data. The fund held a first close in February 2020 on EUR 630m.

MVision advised on the fundraise, with Clifford Chance and Plesner providing legal advice.

Holding a first close in February 2020 was opportune timing, given the coronavirus lockdowns and disruptions that ensued shortly afterwards in Europe. The timing was not influenced by the pandemic, however, head of investor relations Jesper Breitenstein told Unquote. "We had approached the end of Fund V, so we thought that it was a good time to hold a first close for Fund VI, and we had the capital to do so," he said. "We wanted to start the fund but continue the fundraise. It allowed us to pursue some opportunities that we had followed for some time. We did not have to put anything on hold, we continued to look for good investment opportunities, and we were pleased to have held the close then, before the pandemic."

Much of the fundraising was one virtually, Breitenstein said. "We only had one day when we were physically on the road, in September last year – the rest was done via Teams of Zoom." LP communication continued in this period, however, Breitenstein told Unquote. "We realised very quickly that many LPs had changed their focus to portfolio management, which meant that they had more appetite for asking questions about our portfolio and how it was making it through the crisis. So we still had a lot of investor activity in the spring 2020 and in H2 2020. Then, in Q3 and Q4 2020, investors started to have more appetite for new investments."

Axcel's predecessor vehicle held a final close in April 2018 on EUR 617m, surpassing its EUR 500m target. The fund has made one partial realisation, selling the cooling operations of wind power and automotive equipment producer Nissens to AP Moller. Computer gaming accessories producer Steelseries, which Axcel acquired in July 2019, is rumoured to be heading for an IPO, according to Danish press reports. The company could be valued at around DKK 5bn (EUR 672m), Borsen reported.

Christian Schmidt-Jacobsen joined Axcel in 2015 as co-managing partner, taking on the role of managing partner the following year. Axcel VI is the second fund generation to be raised under his leadership.

Nordics-focused GPs have raised more than EUR 22bn across 22 first and final closes to date in 2021, according to Unquote Data. Well-known names have been in the market this year, including EQT for its EUR 15.6bn EQT IX, and FSN for its EUR 1.8bn sixth flagship fund. Nordic Capital held a final close for its debut mid-market Evolution Fund on EUR 1.2bn in June 2021, eight months after it announced its EUR 6.1bn Nordic Capital X.

Funds currently on the road in the region include Blue Equity III, as well as Saga Private Equity's eighth fund, according to Unquote Data.

Investors
LPs in the fund include the European investment Fund, according to Unquote Data. The GP said in a statement that 65% of the fund’s commitments came from existing investors, including Nordic and European LPs.

"In broad terms, the LP base is close to what we saw in our previous funds," Breitenstein told Unquote. "We have always had strong support from Nordic investors including family offices and corporates, due to our presence in the market, and we were happy that this segment was a significant part of the LP base again."

Almost 30% of Axcel VI's LP base is made up of pension funds, with around 20% made up of asset managers. Family offices and corporates comprise 15%, with the remainder made up of foundations and financial institutions.

Of these LPs, around 70% are from the Nordics, with the remaining 30% from the rest of Europe.

Axcel’s previous vehicle have attracted commitments from Unigestion, Partners Group and Idinvest, as well institutional investors including as Danish pension funds, and Nordics-based banks.

Investments
Axcel invests in Nordic mid-cap companies with revenues of DKK 250m-DKK 4bn (approximately EUR 33.6m-EUR 537m), focusing on the sectors of healthcare, consumer goods, industrials and technology. Although Axcel VI is larger than its predecessors, it will continue their strategy, backing deals with enterprise values of EUR 100m-EUR 250m.

Although the GP's strategy remains unchained, Axcel VI is expected to make 12-14 platform deals; its predecessor fund made nine platform deals.

The fund made its first deal in April 2020, two months after its final close, acquiring customer relationship management software SuperOffice. The vehicle has made six platform investments to date, the most recent of which were veterinary care provider VetGruppen from Dansk Ejerkapital and the SBO of IT consultancy ProData Consult from Polaris in June 2021. The GP currently has 17 portfolio companies across its funds.

Axcel expects to make three to four deals from the fund per year, in line with the six that it has made since February 2020.

Two of Axcel’s deals in 2020 involved the acquisition and subsequent merger of three companies at a time. In October, the GP formed building ventilation, automation and safety business Currentum, combining three Swedish companies. Axcel acquired staffing agencies TeamVikaren/PersonaleBørsen, Protemp and Moment in November 2020, combining them to form a buy and build platform.

People
Axcel – Christian Schmidt-Jacobsen (managing partner); Jesper Breitenstein (head of investor relations).

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