EMK closes maiden fund on £575m hard-cap

Kenny Wastell
08 May 2017

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London-based GP EMK Capital Partners, a new GP led by Bregal Capital co-founder Edmund Lazarus and former Oakley Capital partner Mark Joseph, has held a final close for its maiden fund on its ТЃ575m hard-cap.

The GP said in a statement that the hard-cap for the UK-focused vehicle was met after just eight months on the road.

The development comes two years after Lazarus founded the firm in order to manage a portfolio of nine companies previously under his management while at Bregal.

Campbell Lutyens acted as global placement agent for EMK in the fundraising process, while Proskauer Rose acted as legal adviser.

Investors
The fund attracted commitments from a global pool of LPs, including university endowments, insurance companies and pension funds. According to publicly available documents, investors include Liberty Mutual, FM Global Investment Partners, Private Equity Partners, TfL Pension Fund, John Lewis Pension Fund, Eton College, Cambridge University Endowment Fund, University of Virginia Investment Management Company and Santa Clara College.

Investments
EMK has a generalist remit and will take controlling and significant minority stakes in UK-based mid-market companies.

The GP has sold two of its portfolio companies since it was founded. It remains invested in seven companies including IT training company QA; boiler and radiator manufacturing company Ideal Stelrad Group; independent schools group Cognita; B2B storage furniture manufacturer Whittan; mortgage lender Bluestep; waste management and recycling company Reconomy; and recruitment business FiveTen Group.

According to a statement issued by the GP, the seven companies remaining in its portfolio have a combined net asset value of around £1bn.

People
EMK Capital Partners – Edmund Lazarus, Mark Joseph (managing partners).