Westbridge raises £140m for sophomore fund

Kenny Wastell
06 June 2019

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UK small-cap and lower-mid-market investor Westbridge Capital has held a final close for its second fund, Westbridge II, on ТЃ140m.

The total figure exceeds the vehicle's £100m hard-cap, but it includes "associated earmarked co-investment monies", according to a statement.

WestBridge II held a £50m first close in January 2018 and had raised £87m, according to public documents, at the time of its interim close in November 2018.

The fund's predecessor has made three exits to date, which have generated an average money multiple of 4x.

The development comes five months after the GP promoted Tim Whittard to director and Edward Minton to investment manager, and seven months after it appointed Kingston Smith's James MacLeay as investment manager. Westbridge is also pursuing further team expansion.

Investors
The vehicle received commitments from new and existing investors. LPs include the European Investment Fund, Kempen Private Markets Fund, South Yorkshire Pension Fund and West Yorkshire Pension Fund.

Investments
Westbridge II will write equity cheques of £10-20m for UK-based companies with enterprise values of £15-40m. It expects to make 10-12 investments throughout the course of its lifespan.

The fund has made three management buyouts during the past nine months: commercial car wash equipment provider Wilcomatic, environmental consultancy Apem and wheelchair provider AJM Healthcare. The vehicle is currently around 20% deployed, according to the statement, and has a "strong pipeline" of potential investments that it expects to complete by the end of 2019.

People
Westbridge Capital - Guy Davies (managing partner); James Wakefield (chairperson).