
Resource Partners holds €100m first close for second fund
CEE-focused private equity firm Resource Partners has held a first close on €100m for its second generalist fund, Resource Eastern European Equity Partners II (REEEP II).
The new vehicle was launched in 2016 and comes eight years after the GP launched its first fund, which raised €158m.
Resource Partners co-founder and managing partner Piotr Nocen told unquote" REEEP II has a €200m hard-cap, which is expected to be hit by the end of H1 2017. Fundraising efforts are being run in-house and the first close has come after less than a year on the road, he said.
Nocen described REEEP II's structure and terms as "plain vanilla", featuring a five-plus-five-year lifespan and market terms, and target returns typical for CEE private equity funds.
Investors
REEEP II is currently backed by five LPs, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Fund.
Nocen declined to name any investors in the fund, but said the remaining backers were western European, mainly due to the difficulty of getting local investors on board.
Investments
Resource's second vehicle will follow the strategy of its predecessor, investing in companies based in the EU member states of central and eastern Europe – though mainly Poland and Romania.
The vehicle is flexible and can invest through buyouts as well as through growth capital injections. It will commit equity tickets of €5-25m per deal, with the sweet-spot being in the €15-20m range. Target assets will generate EBITDA of €2.5-10m and REEEP II is likely to make 8-12 investments in total. Its predecessor is fully invested and has made nine investments in total.
Deal leverage is generally expected to be conservative, Nocen said.
REEP II completed its first investment in January, backing the Polish makeup producer Torf Corporation.
People
Resource Partners – Piotr Nocen (co-founder, managing partner).
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