Novalpina holds €1bn final close for debut fund

Alessia Argentieri
27 March 2019

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Novalpina Capital has held a final close on its тЌ1bn target for its inaugural fund, Novalpina Capital Partners I.

The fund, which is domiciled in Luxembourg, was launched in May 2017. It held a first close in November 2017 on €550m and a second close in March 2018 on €800m.

The vehicle intends to follow a sector-agnostic approach and return a 20-30% gross IRR and a 2.5x money multiple.

Park Hill Group and Brooklands Capital Strategies acted as placement agents, while Macfarlanes and Loyens & Loeff Luxembourg acted as legal advisers.

Novalpina was founded by former TPG Capital executives Stephen Peel and Stefan Kowski, along with Bastian Lueken, the former head of Platinum Equity's European investment team, in 2017. They were joined by Tobias Buck, who invested with Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Area, as well as Mikael Betito, a former Goldman Sachs investment banking analyst.

Investors
The fund's LP base is composed of North American and European investors, primarily private and public pension funds, endowments, insurance companies and high-net-worth individuals. The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund made a €200m commitment to the vehicle, while the GP itself invested €75m, according to publicly available documents. The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation committed $59m to the fund.

Investments
Novalpina Capital Partners I intends to make between seven and nine equity investments of €75-200m in businesses with enterprise values of €250m-1bn. It will invest in western Europe with a special focus on the DACH region, the UK and France.

The vehicle has already closed two deals by acquiring a 64% stake in Tallinn-based casino operator Olympic Entertainment for around €184m in March 2018 and investing in Israeli cyberintelligence specialist NSO Group in February 2019.

People
Novalpina Capital Partners – Stephen Peel, Stefan Kowski, Bastian Lueken (co-founders).