Seattle buyout firm closes first fund on $275m

Evergreen Pacific Partners announced Thursday the close of a $275 million (€210 million) buyout fund. The fund will focus on traditional, private company buyouts in the manufacturing, packaging, media and consumer products industries in the Northwest and Western US, as well as Western Canada.

T.J. McGill, managing director at Evergreen Pacific, said that the fund had an original target of $200 million when fundraising began in the fall of 2003.

According to McGill, for the size of the Pacific Northwest, there are relatively private equity firms seeking out opportunities there. 

It is the first fund for the Seattle-based mid-market private equity firm, founded by managing directors McGill, Tim Bernardez and Michael Nibarger. The three formerly worked together at Northwest Capital Appreciation in Seattle.

“The bulk of our personal, academic and professional lives have been on the West Coast”, McGill said. “We have strong ties to the region”.

The company said limited partners included investment manager West AM, the Public School Employee Retirement System of Pennsylvania, the Duke Endowment and Mass Mutual.

Investors in the fund also include thirty largely Northwest-based company presidents and executives.

“Most overlap the four industries we’re focusing on from an investment standpoint,” McGill said. “It’s a nice mix”.

McGill added that the fund would be closing on its first investment “very shortly”.