Comvest closes third fund at $450m

Florida-based Comvest Partners has collected $450 million for a final closing of its third direct lending fund, the Comvest Capital (CVC) III fund, the firm announced today (4 June). The capital is $100 million more than the firm’s original $350 million target and is Comvest’s largest lending fund so far. The first Comvest Capital lending fund closed at $185 million in 2007 and focused on asset-based lending, while the second one closed at $250 million in late 2009, according to partner Robert O’Sullivan.

The capital commitments in CVC III came from public pension funds, insurance companies, family offices and several US and European private equity investors. The firm is also arranging a fund-level credit line from a large bank, whose name O’Sullivan couldn’t yet reveal, at $150 million bringing the fund’s purchasing power to $600 million total.

CVC III provides financing to companies in the lower mid-market across a range of industries, with a focus on companies in healthcare, technology, transportation, financial services, media and manufacturing. The lending strategy targets senior secured debt in less competitive segments of the market, smaller companies and non-sponsored businesses. The firm’s typical loan size is around $20 million. CVC III has already invested $165 million of the capital in this fund and plans to continue lending over the next three years, O’Sullivan said.

The fund is part of Comvest Partners’ broader private markets investment platform, which has $2.1 billion of assets under management and provides capital to mid-market companies through equity and debt funds. Since 2000, Comvest has invested about $1.6 billion in 135 public and private companies. The firm is headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, and has an additional office in New York.