Access Capital Partners, a French fund of funds manager, has held the final close on its fourth European small and mid-market buyout fund just one week after it sold a 50 percent stake in the firm to N+1, a Spanish investment bank and private equity group, for €33 million.
The 50 percent stake in the firm which it sold to N+1 comprised a 35 percent stake owned by Nordic alternatives group CapMan and a further 15 percent from the management. Through ownership of shares in N+1’s acquisition vehicle, Access Capital’s management retain 65 percent of the business overall.
ACF IV Growth Buyout Europe closed with commitments of €425 million ($663 million; £335 million).
The firm said the successful fundraising was indicative of the small and mid-market’s resilience to credit market turmoil. Agnès Nahum, managing partner, told PEO: “Nothing is easy at the moment, but in the end we could have raised more.”
Nahum said a fifth fund was planned for next year.
ACF IV Growth Buyout Europe attracted investments from Germany, France, the Nordic countries, the UK and Benelux.
Commitments have already been made to 15 underlying funds, including three special situation funds and two sector-specific mid-market buyout funds.