Corpfin closes Spanish fund on €223m

Corpfin Capital, a Spanish mid-market private equity firm, has closed its third private equity fund with total commitments of €223 million ($283 million), passing its original target of €200 million.
 
Corpfin Capital Fund III held a first close in January of this year with €100 million of commitments. The firm began marketing the vehicle in March 2005.
 
Natividad Sierra, an investment director at the Madrid-based firm, said that Helix Associates was the placement agent for Fund III. Helix had also advised on Fund II, which closed on €135 million in 2002.
 
Investors in Corpfin Capital Fund III included Bankinter, CAAM-CI, Fondinvest, Sofina, Scottish Widows, West Midlands Pensions Funds and pension funds managed by BBVA and Caja Madrid. According to the firm, financial institutions, funds of funds, insurance companies and family offices represented 80 percent of the investor base.
 
Sierra said that the increasing interest in the Spanish market had resulted in the majority of committed capital for Fund III coming from non-Spanish sources, in contrast to Fund II, whose investor base was approximately 50 percent Spanish.
 
Fund II is now fully invested in 11 companies, of which one was a combined buyout and expansion capital investment and the remainder buyouts, according to Sierra.
 
Fund III will invest in mid-market buyouts, focusing on medium-to-large Spanish private companies with more than €6 million EBITDA and enterprise values between €25 million and €200 million. The fund has no specific sector focus, but will not invest in finance or real estate assets.
 
Sierra said that Fund III has a number of transactions in the pipeline, expected to close before year-end, but declined to provide further details.
 
Founded in 1990, Corpfin Capital has invested a total of €143.75 million in 21 companies. The firm is headed by chairman Felipe Oriol, alongside three partners and three investment directors.