Fundraising

Alpha closes Fund 5 at €750m

The Franco-German mid-cap buyout firm will partner with Italian private equity firm Magenta for co-investments in Italy.

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Franco-German private equity house Alpha Group has held a first and final close of its seventh fund, Alpha Private Equity Fund 5 (APEF 5), at €750 million ($890 million).
 
Patricia Desquesnes, investor relations manager at Alpha, said in an interview that the fund was raised in three months and did not involve the services of a placement agent. “We have a stable investor base and a good track record,” she said. “We had a lot of investors coming to us directly, so we didn’t have to chase them.”
 
Alpha said that 90 percent of commitments to APEF 5 came from investors in the firm’s previous funds, which included: HarbourVest Partners; AlpInvest Partners; Capital Dynamics; Danske Private Equity; Hermes Private Equity; Insight Investment; Altius Associates; Delta Lloyd; Ilmarinen; Varma Mutual; TIFF; Adveq; Finama/Quartilium; and Quilvest Group.
 
LPs that committed to Alpha for the first time included: Citigroup Private Equity; Gartmore Private Equity; Keyhaven Capital Partners; Liberty Mutual; and Northwestern University.
 
In terms of regional split, 58 percent of commitments came from European investors, 37 percent from the US and the remaining five percent from other countries. The latter came predominantly from Australia, said Desquesnes.
 
Desquesnes said APEF 5 would follow the investment strategy of Alpha’s previous funds by taking majority stakes in leveraged buyouts in France, Germany, Benelux, Switzerland, Austria and Italy.
 
Alpha’s previous fund, APEF 4, closed on €500 million in 2002.
 
Alpha also announced it will partner with Italian private equity firm Magenta Investimenti for co-investments in the country. “We’re a Franco-German fund, but we think that Italy has good opportunities for the kinds of deals we like, especially family-owned businesses where there are transition issues,” said Desquesnes. “It will also provide a chance for some of our portfolio companies to move into the country through acquisitions or joint ventures.”
 
Established in 1985, Alpha has offices in Paris, Frankfurt and Monaco. Following the close of APEF 5, it manages €1.5 billion in assets.