IK VIII hits €1.85bn hard-cap at final close

Mikkel Stern-Peltz
28 November 2016

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IK Investment Partners has held a final close on the €1.85bn hard-cap for its eighth mid-market buyout vehicle, IK VIII.

The final close comes just under three months after the GP held a second close on the fund's €1.6bn target and around eight months after fundraising began.

In August, unquote" could reveal the imminent second close of IK VIII and the 30 LPs from which commitments had been secured.

At the time, a source close to the fundraising effort said the fund's management fee was 1.75%, and its lifespan the typical 10 years with an extension of up to three years.

Unlike previous funds, which had engaged Campbell Lutyens as a placement agent, IK VIII was raised in-house.

IK VIII is the second fund closed by the GP in 2016, having also raised a €277m small-cap buyout vehicle earlier this year.

Kirkland & Ellis provides legal advice to the fund.

Investors
Official filings for the vehicle show in excess of 30 LPs have committed to the fund, including Alberta Teachers Retirement System, fund-of-funds Alpha Associates, HarbourVest, New York Teachers Retirement System, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company, SL Capital Partners, Ardian VII and the Minnesota State Board of Investment.

A full list of LPs can be found on unquote" data and includes high-net-worth individuals, family offices, insurance companies, pension funds and funds-of-funds.

According to a statement, 37% of LPs in IK VIII are based in North America, 52% in Europe, 5% in the Middle East and 2% in Asia.

The IK partnership has committed in excess of €50m to the fund, and unquote" understands no debt financing was used for the GP commitment.

Investments
IK VIII will follow the strategy of its predecessor, targeting deals with enterprise values in the €100-500m range across the France, Benelux, DACH and Nordic regions – though historically the GP has made around half of its investments in the Nordic market.

The fund has a generalist strategy, but IK has tended to favour food products and specialised industrial companies, as well as the broader consumer goods and business process outsourcing verticals.

The fund has so far been used for three investments: the MBO of Danish temperature monitoring products business Ellab in early August, Hamburg-based pharma business ZytoService, and German maker of granite kitchen sinks Schock earlier in November.

People
IK Investment Partners – Christopher Masek (CEO); Mads Ryum Larsen (head of investor relations, partner).