US investment bank Greenhill has held the first close of its debut European mid-market fund at £106 million ($210 million, €155 million).
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The fund will invest in the UK and mainland Europe and will make controlling or influential minority investments of £10 million to £30 million pounds in companies with enterprise values of £50 million to £250 million.
Robert Greenhill, chairman and chief executive of Greenhill, said the firm’s first European fund is a means of expanding the company’s merchant banking activities. Like the firm’s US fund, the European vehicle will focus on smaller transactions than the firm’s client advisory service to avoid potential conflicts, he added.
Investment banks are pouring more and more money into private equity at the moment. Goldman Sachs closed the biggest-ever private equity fund last month at $20 billion (€14.8 billion), while other players like Bear Stearns and Morgan Stanley are punching their weight against the world’s largest private equity firms.