Norvestor closes fifth fund on €236m

Norvestor has held the final close on its fifth mid-market fund with total commitments of €236 million ($354 million). The Norwegian firm has already drawn down around €70 million from the fund, having completed two deals and agreed terms on a third.

Commitments to Fund V came from more than 30 existing and new investors, including fund of funds investor Argentum, insurance company Gjensidige, banking group Storebrand and life company KLP.

Fund V’s predecessor was a €157 million fund raised in 2004, which has made six investments in Norwegian and Nordic mid-market companies.

Fund V follows the same criteria as its predecessor, making investments of between €10 million and €45 million in mid-market companies with enterprise values of between €20 million and €125 million.

The first investment on behalf of Fund V, made in December 2007, was a chain of seven laser eye surgery clinics throughout Sweden and Norway, Nordic Vision Clinics, which Norvestor created by merging three individual companies.

In June, Norvestor acquired 70 percent of RenoNorden, a provider of waste collection services in Sweden and Norway.

The fund’s third acquisition, a 70 percent stake in fuel technology company Wema Group, is due to complete at some stage this month.

Financial details of the three deals were not disclosed.