Banc of America Equity Partners closes European fund

06 August 2001

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Banc of America Equity Partners Europe (BAEPE) has announced a final closing of its second fund on Euro 590m. BAEPE is the exclusive equity provider in Europe for Bank of America, which is the fundâ€™s sole limited partner. BAEPE II marks an increased commitment to European private equity from Bank of America, which previously backed the formation of the first fund with Euro 200m of capital in 1996. The European fund is one of a number of individual limited partnerships which have been established in Asia and Latin America, as well as Europe, by Bank of America in preference to originating and monitoring investments centrally and is part of the bankâ€™s $7bn global commitment to private equity. BAEPE has seven investment professionals at its London office, with further offices in Frankfurt, Milan and Warsaw, and has established relationships with local partners in the Nordic region, France and Hungary to source deals in these areas.

BAEPEâ€™s investment remit encompasses a wide range of industrial, consumer and service sectors, with the emphasis being on providing financing to support the expansion or buyout of businesses in the communications, media, speciality manufacturing, distribution and business services sectors. The fund is midmarket-focused, committing Euro 20-100m to businesses with an enterprise value in the Euro 50-300m bracket in return for a controlling equity stake. BAEPE II has the freedom to invest throughout Western and Central Europe without a pre-allocation of a percentage of the fund pool to particular countries or regions.

Thus far, one half of the Euro 590m raised has been invested or committed. Bill Obenshain, managing partner of BAEPE, comments that this year has seen a lot of add-on activity, with BAEPE II providing additional funding to Swedish air cargo business ETR Group and being in the process of committing further funding to German cable company Kabel NRW.