Halifax Group closes second fund at $305m

The Halifax Group, a private equity investment firm with over $500 million of capital under management, closed its second fund today at $305 million. The fund will make investments small private companies in infrastructure, health, wellness and related sectors.

Investors in the fund, called Halifax Capital Partners II, include eight public and private pension funds, six endowments and foundations, six funds of funds, six family offices and three corporations.

“We believe that the investor group we have assembled is the best that any manager could wish for,” said Halifax CEO David Dupree in a statement. “At $305 million, Halifax II has been positioned to take advantage of the inefficiencies in the small buyout market.”

Halifax still has five companies remaining in its first fund, which closed in August 2000 with $200 million of equity commitments. The firm has also exited Halifax I investments in five companies, including Meineke Car Care Centers and Soil Safe, which were sold in 2005.

Halifax II has already invested in two companies: Maverick Healthcare, a Mesa, Arizona provider of home health services, and Gainesville, Texas-based PolyPipe, one of the largest polyethylene pipe producers in North America. These investments were split approximately 50/50 between Halifax I and II. Halifax I is now completely invested.

Founded in 1999, Halifax has offices in Dallas, Texas, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, and Washington, DC, and is affiliated with Texas Pacific Group and Colony Capital. William Rogers, a co-founder of Halifax, was previously part of the investment team at the Robert M. Bass Group. David Dupree came from The Carlyle Group, where he was a managing director.