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Nordic Fundraising Pipeline - Q1 2021

Eliza Punshi
29 March 2021

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Unquote rounds up notable fundraises ongoing across the Nordic market, including EQT, Axcel, CapMan, Saga, and more.

Like many other processes in private equity, fundraising activity in the Nordic region picked up in the second half of 2020; the Covid-19 outbreak had initially threatened to seriously push back timings for a number of fundraises in the market.

Overall, Unquote recorded 15 final closes for funds managed by Nordic sponsors, raising aggregate commitments of €9.4bn – an uptick of nearly a €1.5bn compared to 2019, which saw 22 fund closes and €8.06bn in total commitments.

As reflected in the numbers, fewer funds raised larger amounts in 2020, with standouts from Q4 including Nordic Capital X, which raised its largest fund ever at €6.1bn; and fund-of-funds ATP Private Equity Partners VII, which held a final close on €800m.

In the first quarter of 2021, fundraising continued at pace, with Unquote recording eight final fund closes between January and March so far, for aggregate commitments of €1.9bn. Among the funds that closed this quarter are Norvestor VIII, on €800m; Verdane Edda II, on €540m; CapMan Buyout XI, which held a final close in February on slightly below its €250m target; Via Equity IV, which closed on €175m; and eEquity, which held a final close on €166m. More recently, debt fund manager Armada Credit Partners announced a final close for its fifth fund on €210m.

The below is a selection of Nordic funds currently on the road, drawing on intelligence from Unquote Data and Unquote.com.

Buyout & generalist funds

Fund name	Fund manager	Vintage	Strategy	Target (€m)	Launch date	Latest update
EQT IX	EQT Partners	2020	European large and mid-market buyouts	14,750	Jan 2020	EQT IX launched with a €15bn hard-cap. The fund was activated in July 2020, and is understood to have held a first close just before that. The GP said earlier this month that it expects to hold a final close on its hard-cap in Q2 2021. It has said since Q3 last year that the fundraising has "materially concluded". The fund has made seven platform investments so far and was 35% deployed as of February 2021, based on its target fund size.
Axcel VI	Axcel	2020	Danish and Swedish mid-market buyouts	800	Dec 2019	Axcel VI held a first close in February 2020 on around €507m. This figure is now up to €630m, according to the GP's website. Axcel told Unquote that fundraising would need to extend into Q1. However, it now looks likely that it will take place in Q2. The fund has made four platform investments so far.
Brygge Partners II	Brygge Partners	2021	Danish majority and minority buyouts	n/d	Mar 2021	Brygge registered its new fund Brygge Partners II in March 2021 and made its first minority investment this month.
Verso Fund III	Verso Capital	2020	Small-cap carve-outs	100	May 2020	Verso launched and held a first close for its third fund in May 2020. The fund has a €100m target and raised €66m at first close. The GP told Unquote that it has added two more LPs since its first close, but said that fundraising has been slower than it would have been pre-pandemic. It was previously expected to reach its hard-cap by the end of 2020 but the fundraise still seems to be ongoing.
MVI Fund II	MVI	2020	Buy-and-build investments in Norway and Sweden	98	n/d	MVI's second fund held a first close on SEK 688m in June 2020 and was aiming to reach its SEK 1bn target by Q1 2021, the GP told Unquote in Q3 last year. The fund has made two platform investments so far and is roughly 10% deployed.
CapMan Special Situations I	CapMan Group	n/d	Equity and debt investments in Finnish companies	n/d	2020	CapMan's first special situations fund held a first close earlier this month and was deployed for its first investment in Finnish company HopLop. The GP declined to comment on how much the fund had raised so far but told Unquote that the fund is "expected to close later this year".
Blue Equity III	Blue Equity Partners	n/d	Danish SMEs focusing on environmental or energy-improving technology and services	n/d	2020	Danish PE firm Blue Equity’s second fund is almost fully invested, with the GP expected to start raising its third fund this year.
FSN VI	FSN Capital Partners	n/d	Small and mid-cap buyouts of northern European companies	n/d	Apr 2020	FSN VI was registered in April 2020, with the GP's current fund being 80% deployed as of September 2020.
Broviken Gruppen II	Broviken Gruppen	2019	Knowledge-intensive service companies in Sweden	n/d	Oct 2019	Broviken Gruppen II was launched in October 2019. The fund held a first close on SEK 650m in February 2020. The fund has been used for two platform investments so far.

Venture & growth funds

Fund name	Fund manager	Vintage	Strategy	Target	Launch date	Latest update
OpenOcean Fund 2020	Open Ocean Ventures	2020	Series-A rounds for B2B software companies	130	2019	OpenOcean held a second close for its OpenOcean Fund 2020 in February 2021 on €120m and is aiming to hold a final close on €130m during H1 this year.
Sparkmind Fund	Sparkmind.vc	2020	Education technology companies, mainly in northern Europe	40	Mar 2020	Sparkmind.vc held a first close for its debut education technology fund on €40m in March last year, and a second close in December. The GP told Unquote that it is now on track to hold a final close at the end of March 2021. It is targeting €50m and has a hard-cap of €60m.
Superhero Venture Fund II	Superhero Capital	2020	Early-stage investments in data-driven companies in Finland and the Baltic region	40	Jan 2020	Finnish venture capital firm Superhero Capital held a first close on €30m for its second fund in September 2020. The vehicle is targeting €40m. The GP told Unquote that it was "still fundraising" and plans to "hold a final close by mid-summer".
Icebreaker Fund II	Icebreaker Ventures	2020	Pre-seed and seed-stage tech companies in Finland, Sweden and Estonia.	75	Apr 2020	Icebreaker Fund II was launched in April 2020, when it held a first close on €50m. According to press reports, the fund is targeting €75m.
B2B Industrial Technology Fund	Innovestor	2020	Early-stage B2B industrial technology companies.	100	Feb 2020	The B2B Industrial Technology Fund launched and held a first close in February 2020 on €30m. The fund had added 20 LPs at the time of first close and was expecting to add 20 more investors before the final close.

Funds-of-funds, special situations

Fund name	Fund manager	Vintage	Strategy	Target	Launch date	Latest update
Saga VIII	Saga Private Equity	2020	Buyout funds in the micro, small-cap, and mid-market in Europe and North America.	700	Sep 2020	Fund-of-funds Saga VIII held a first close on €600m in early March and has a hard-cap of €700m. The GP told Unquote that it expects to hold a final close in Q3.
Certior Special Opportunities Fund	Certior Capital	2020	European distressed debt market, opportunistic strategies, special situations, non-performing loans and asset-backed securities.	75	Nov 2020	Certior Special Opportunities Fund held a first close on €35m in November 2020 and has a target of €75m. It is planning to hold a final close in May 2021.