Synova holds £365m first and final close for fourth fund

The vehicle was oversubscribed and the total amount raised was 22% above its target of £300m. It is also 46% larger than its predecessor, which closed on £250m in January 2016.

Synova III is fully deployed in terms of primary investments, though Unquote understands the vehicle still has capital available for follow-on funding rounds, in particular to support bolt-on acquisitions.

The GP's maiden vehicle is now fully realised, having returned 4x invested capital. Its second fund is currently averaging a 5x return from four exits and has already returned 3x invested capital, with half of its portfolio still to be realised. Synova currently has 12 portfolio companies, of which eight are in its third fund.

FirstPoint Equity acted as placement agent for Synova IV, while Macfarlanes and Nixon Peabody provided legal advice.

Investors
Synova IV received commitments from new and existing investors from Europe, the US and Asia, it is understood, with a relatively even spread across the three geographies. LPs include endowments, funds-of-funds, family offices, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies, with the split again being relatively even.

Unquote understands that around two thirds of commitments came from existing investors, while the remainder came from new LPs. Investors in Synova's previous fund include LGT Capital Partners, Schroder Adveq, Ascension Investment Management, Emory Investment Management and Access Capital Partners, according to filings.

Investments
The new fund will write equity cheques of £10-60m, with the GP historically having made investments at around the mid-point of that range. As with its predecessors, Synova IV will invest based on selected themes, which have typically included shifting demographics and digitalisation. It will look to make 8-12 platform investments in companies with enterprise values in the £20-100m range and target full deployment within two or three years, it is understood.

The GP backs companies in the UK and Ireland that operate in healthcare, education, financial services, business services, technology and tech-enabled services. It typically supports acquisitive and international growth strategies, with Synova opening a New York office in 2017 to support its portfolio companies' expansion into the US market.

People
Synova Capital – David Menton, Philip Shapiro (co-founders, managing partners).

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