Sentica holds fourth close above EUR100m target

01 October 2009

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Fund

Finnish private equity firm Sentica Partners has held a fourth close of its lower mid-market buyout fund on EUR113m, exceeding its EUR100m target. The first close was held in late November 2008 on EUR50m. Sentica expects to hold a final close towards the end of September on the fund's hard cap of EUR150m.

Terms and conditions of the new vehicle are industry standard with a 10+1+1 life span, 2% management fee, and a 20% performance fee. Sentica did not use a placement agent, but Roschier provided legal advice.

Investors

Sentica Buyout III received commitments from 15 LPs in total, with minimum subscriptions set at EUR1m and maximum at 30% of the fund's hard cap. The GP itself contributed about 5% of total fund size. The firm aimed to attract more international investors to its fund, having previously targeted Finland-based investors, and subsequently about one third of LPs in the vehicle are European funds-of-funds.

Finnish investors included Finnish Industry Investments Ltd, Ilmarinen Pension Insurance Company and Etera Mutual Pension Insurance Company, while the European Investment Bank was among the new international fund backers.

Investments

Sentica Buyout III will invest in companies with enterprise values of EUR15-20m, committing EUR5-15m per transaction. The fund can invest in all sectors, but traditionally Sentica has favoured healthcare, business and IT services. The fund's first deal was recently closed, investing less than EUR15m for a 70% stake in Descom, created by the merger of the Finnish IT providers Descom Oy and Integware Oy (see page 25). Sentica aims to take majority or "controlling" stakes, and normally has debt levels of 2-4x EBTIDA.

People

Sentica's managing partner Mika Uotila is the main manager of the fund.

Name: Sentica Buyout III

Closed on: EUR113m, August 2009

Base: Finland

Focus: Lower mid-market

Contact: Mika Uotila

Address: Bulevardi 1

00100 Helsinki

Finland

Telephone

+358 207 529610