Investcorp lines up second Europe-dedicated fund

Siddesh Mayenkar, Greg Gille
18 March 2021

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Investcorp plans to launch its second European buyout fund after the summer, aiming for €1-1.5bn, while it is also eyeing its first China-focused private equity fund, co-chief executive Hazem Ben-Gacem told Unquote.

In 2019, the Bahrain-based PE firm transferred six portfolio companies that were acquired on a deal-by-deal basis into a new vehicle named Investcorp European Buyout Fund 2019. Coller Capital backed the transfer via its Coller Investment Partners VII fund.

The transaction value of $1bn included $650m in secondary capital and $300m in primary money, with extra capital also available for co-investment, Unquote reported at the time. The fresh capital was also earmarked for add-on investments for the portfolio, as well as new standalone investments in European buyouts.

The portfolio comprised six assets: Italian motorbike equipment marker Dainese (acquired in 2015); Danish design brand Georg Jensen (2012); Swedish sports equipment marker POC (2015); Spanish agricultural business Agromillora (2016); Norwegian fleet software firm Abax (2017); and UK-based building safety business Kee Safety (2017).

Overall, the firm's European PE team has deployed €6bn across more than 50 investments in 14 countries since inception, according to its website.

In Europe, Investcorp targets buyouts, controlling stakes or substantial minority stakes in companies with €10-40m in EBITDA and high growth potential, which typically require equity investments of €100-200m.

Investcorp already has a $500m fund dedicated to Asian food brand investments, which it is looking to fully deploy in the next two years, Ben-Gacem told Unquote sister publication Mergermarket in December.

The firm also plans to raise a third fund in India, which could wield $200-250m, Ben-Gacem said. It closed its debut, $142m PE fund in India in 2019, and has another being raised already, targeting $125m, he added.