PEP closes third Australian fund

Sydney, Australia-based private equity firm Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) has raised a total of AU$1.2 billion ($902 million; €748 million) for its third fund, PEP III.
 
The fund comprises a core fund focused on medium-sized transactions and a side vehicle aimed at larger deals. Tim Sims, managing director of PEP, told The Courier Mail that PEP III is “set up in two layers – a core and a supplemental fund – and what that enables us to do is have a very broad spectrum”.
 
According to sources close to the deal, AU$800 million has been committed to the core layer, with the remaining AU$400 million set aside for larger deals.
 

Gardell: fundraising three times oversubscribed

The closing comes as international interest in Australian private equity is picking up.  PEP Australian rival CHAMP Private Equity closed its second fund, CHAMP II, on AU$950 million in August last year.
 
PEP secured commitments from several US investors including the endowments of Harvard, Stanford and Yale universities, a group of funds of funds, high net worth individuals and a number of pension funds, Rickard Gardell, a founding partner and managing director of PEP, said in an interview with PEO. The fundraising was three times oversubscribed, he added.
 
Gardell also said that PEP III will have a broad industry focus, targeting enterprises valued at between AU$100 million and AU$500 million in Australia and New Zealand.
 
Last week, PEP paid AU$253 million to purchase the surveillance and security division of Vision Systems, a Victoria, Australia-based technology company, and is currently finalising the acquisition of Tegel Foods, a poultry business in New Zealand.