NIBC spin-out collects €100m for growth fund

Netherlands-based Avedon Capital Partners has held a €100 million first close on its first independent fund, NIBC Growth Capital Fund II. 

In conjunction with the first closing, Avedon said in a statement it had completed its spin-out from Dutch bank NIBC, one of three “cornerstone investors” in the fund. Goldman Sachs Asset Management and the European Investment Fund are also backing the vehicle, which has a €200 million target and €250 million hard-cap. It is not using a placement.

Avedon continues to manage assets in NIBC’s first fund, NIBC Merchant Banking Fund I, which is fully invested, on an advisory basis. As part of the spin-out, Goldman is “acquiring a strip” of that fund, the statement noted. 

NIBC Growth Capital Fund II will make investments in lower mid-market companies in the Benelux region and Germany with enterprise values between €30 million and €300 million. The firm plans to make between 10 and 15 investments from the fund, acquiring both minority and majority stakes, across a variety of sectors.

Avedon is led by managing partners Alfred Tulp and Gerard Burgers. Tulp was formerly a managing director at HAL Investments, investing in small and medium sized companies primarily in the Benelux region. Burgers, whose background is in the mezzanine and growth capital space, was previously head of acquisition finance at NIBC, prior to which he worked at ABN AMRO as a senior credit analyst.

Avedon’s three investment directors have worked together at NIBC since 2004. The five-person team together owns the Avedon general partnership and comprises the investment committee. 

The investment team has invested €182 million in 12 transactions, three of which have been realised and are yielding a gross IRR of 42.4 percent and a 2.5x gross return multiple.

Avedon is headquartered in The Hague and Frankfurt and has €500 million under management.