Partners, F&C acquire DKW’s £60m Kleinwort commitment

Swiss-based alternative investment specialist Partners Group and F&C Private Equity Trust (F&C), the private equity arm of F&C Asset Management, have joined the investor base for Kleinwort Capital Partners IV (KCP IV).

Partners Group and F&C have bought out Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein’s £60 million (€87 million; $105 million) interest in Kleinwort Capital Partners IV, which closed on £130 million in January 2004. Financial terms for the transaction were not disclosed.

Green: looking to raise new funds later this year

According to Richard Green, managing director at London-based Kleinwort Capital, Partners Group acquired 75 percent of the commitment, while F&C purchased the remainder.

Green told PEO that Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein had received “substantial returns” on its participation to the fund from a number of exits.

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein has been refocusing its private equity activities since 2001 when it was acquired by the Allianz Group.

Kleinwort Capital, which spun out of the bank in November 2001, has so far made seven investments from KCP IV, including Hat Trick Productions, Intermed, Healthcare Homes Group and Securistyle.

Green said that there is “still scope for another three or four transactions” from the vehicle, and that the firm would begin talks with limited partners later this year regarding a new fundraising.

Kleinwort Capital currently has £300 million under management and makes investments of between £10 million and £100 million in the media, technology, healthcare and specialist manufacturing sectors.