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Henko Partners prepares to hit fundraising trail next year

Iñaki Miguel
14 February 2022

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Spanish GP Henko Partners is planning to return to market for its next fund as early as 2023 as it moves to fully deploy of its debut vehicle, partner Lars Becker and vice-president Ricardo Mellado said in a joint interview.

The new fund will initially have a target of EUR 140m-150m and will have a similar investment strategy to its predecessor, deploying equity tickets of EUR 5m-20m in Spain and Portugal-based companies.

The Madrid-based firm held a final close for its inaugural Henko Capital Partners fund at EUR 70m in October 2021. Fundraising started in June 2021, with approval by the regulator granted in November, Becker said. Acanthus acted as placement agent.

Around 90% of the LPs in the firm’s debut fund are European institutional investors and 10% are Spanish family offices, according to Becker.

Henko Partners was founded in 2021 by Becker, Mellado, Iñigo Urbon (director) and Jules de Meeûs (associate). It has seven employees, including the co-founders, he added.

Investment strategy
Henko is looking to deploy the EUR 49m of dry power remaining in its debut fund this year and in 2023, as reported by Unquote’s sister publication Mergermarket. It is looking to ink two to three deals this year, as well as possible add-ons, Becker added.

Ideal targets are Spain and Portugal-based businesses with EUR 2m-EUR 6m EBITDA and operating in growth sectors such as technology (services, cybersecurity, big data, software), healthcare (products and services, including pharma sector), technical services under a B2B business model, and manufacturing (good product and strong international presence).

Henko’s preferred investment cases are: buy-and-build strategies; buying growth companies; and backing larger businesses with an MBO or LBO strategy, leveraging the deal and doing add-ons, Mellado said. It targets majority stakes, Becker added.

Existing portfolio companies include MMYPEM and Teiga-TMI, two Galician-based engineering companies, which the sponsor plans to use as a buy-and-build platform for technical services businesses in the renewable energy sector. The sponsor’s other portfolio company is Defeder, a Spanish-based organic fertilizers producer, which the GP acquired in November.