Deals

ABRY Partners closes $900m fund

The Boston media buyout firm’s fifth fund reportedly took investments only from investors who had backed one of ABRY’s previous vehicles.

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Boston-based media buyout specialist ABRY Partners has announced the close of its fifth fund on $900 million (€673 million).

Despite a reported 30 percent carried interest, demand for ABRY Partners V was so great, that only investors who had backed at least one of the firm’s prior funds were allowed in. Two of these limited partners include the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System and the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System.

ABRY’s previous fund closed back in 2001 on $775 million. Fund IV is 80 percent invested, and will reportedly co-invest alongside Fund V.

ABRY specialises in the media and communications sectors – such as television and radio, magazine publishing, advertising – and typically invests between $20 million and $100 million of equity, or between $10 million and $50 million of mezzanine capital in a company, according to the firm’s Web site.

The firm’s most recent investment took place in June 2004, with the $722 million acquisition of Monterey, California-based Language Line Services, a provider of over-the-phone interpretation services from English into more than 150 languages.

With the new fund, ABRY currently manages approximately $2.6 billion.

ABRY was founded back in 1989 by Andrew Banks and Royce Yudkoff, who both served as partners of the media practice at Boston-based management consulting specialist Bain & Company.