Oakley raises EUR 2.85bn for fifth flagship fund

Harriet Matthews
02 February 2023

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European mid-market growth investor Oakley Capital has held a final close for its fifth flagship fund on its hard-cap of EUR 2.85bn, surpassing its EUR 2.5bn target.

Oakley Capital V is almost double the size of its predecessor, which held a final close in July 2019 on EUR 1.46bn, surpassing its EUR 1.2bn target.

A spokesperson for Oakley Capital told Unquote that the vehicle's greater size will allow the sponsor to increase the number of deals in the fund to 10-15, whereas Fund IV targeted nine to 10 deals. The new fund can also slightly increase its ticket size on transactions, they said. Oakley previously deployed at least EUR 50m per deal, according to Unquote Data. It will also be able to invest more in bolt-ons as part of its buy-and build strategies, the spokesperson said.

The vehicle was first registered with the Luxembourg registry in August 2021. Oakley said in a press release that the fund took six months to raise.

The new fundraise brings the GP's AUM to EUR 8bn. Oakley's team comprises 45 investment professionals, with offices in London, Munich, Milan and Luxembourg.

Since its foundation by managing partner Peter Dubens in 2002, Oakley has produced returns of 4x MM and 67% IRR across its funds, it said in the same press release. In 2022, the firm made five realisations, generating a money multiple of more than 4.7x.

Investors
Oakley Capital V had a re-up rate of more than 100% from its existing investors, the spokesperson for Oakley told Unquote. It also attracted 25 new institutional investors from North America and EMEA, according to the press release. New additions to the fund's LP base also include LPs from Asia, the Middle East and South America, diversifying Oakley's reach into new markets, the spokesperson said.

New investors contributed more than EUR 800m in fresh capital, the spokesperson added. North American pension funds made up the largest pool of capital in the fund, followed by European investors, they said.

The Oakley Network, comprised of entrepreneurs with whom the GP has previously partnered, also contributed almost EUR 200m, versus EUR 122m in Fund IV, the spokesperson said.

Investments
The fund will follow the same strategy as its predecessor, making investments in European companies in the technology, consumer and education sectors. It will target companies with EVs of EUR 100m-EUR 500m and is typically the first institutional investor in its portfolio companies.

The firm will continue to target areas where it has previously completed investments, including digital marketplaces and early years to tertiary learning education platforms.

The fund is more than 20% deployed across three portfolio companies, the spokesperson said. In June 2022, Oakley Capital IV sold its stake in cloud hosting platform Contabo to KKR in a deal that saw Fund V reinvest for a minority stake. Later that month, the sponsor sold its stake in Italian consumer price comparison platform Facile.it to Silverlake, reinvesting for a minority stake via Oakley Capital V. The sponsor announced that it was to acquire Inflexion's minority investment in UK-based testing, inspection, certification and compliance (TICC) services provider Phenna Group in August 2022.

Oakley said in the press release that its value creation strategy will continue to include bolt-ons and digital transformation, as well as ESG.

People
Oakley Capital – Peter Dubens (founder, managing partner).