Ufenau VII closes on EUR 1bn hard-cap

Harriet Matthews
31 March 2022

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Switzerland-headquartered Ufenau Capital Partners has held a final close for Ufenau VII on its EUR 1bn hard-cap.

The fund surpassed its EUR 800m target.

Arendt & Medernach provided legal advice on the fundraise, while Park Hill was placement agent.

The GP's predecessor vehicle held a final close in March 2020 on EUR 560m, exceeding its EUR 300m target.

The fundraise for Ufenau VII took three months. It was launched in December 2021 and closed in February 2022; it closed the day before Russia invaded Ukraine, Managing Partner Ralf Flore told Unquote.

"The fundraise was around 90%-95% virtual, and this was more efficient given the ticket sizes from the larger pension funds," Flore said. "If you are already known to your investors and are not changing your strategy, virtual fundraising is of huge benefit. It was also easier for us in terms of time spent on the road, so it's more efficient for both parties."

Ufenau's investment team has grown from 15 people when raising Ufenau VI in 2019, to 37 people today, Flore said, allowing the firm to manage more portfolio companies.

Investors
"We started preparing for the fundraise in summer once we got to the end of the deployment of Ufenau VI," Flore said. "We had the backing of all of our existing investors and took on board more endowments and pension funds this time on a global basis. The largest part of the fund comes from the US, then Western Europe, then Asia. Our LP base has always been very international, with very few LPs from the DACH region."

Almost all existing LPs increased their commitment to Ufenau VII, Flore said, adding that the fund has around two thirds of its capital from existing investors and one third from new investors. The fund has 25 LPs in total.

Investments
The fund will follow the investment strategy of its predecessor vehicles, acquiring asset light businesses in services-based sectors including IT and healthcare.

Ufenau VI generally deployed equity tickets of EUR 5m-EUR 20m, while Ufenau VII can deploy initial equity tickets up to EUR 40m-EUR 50m; the fund has a sweet spot of EUR 20m-EUR 30m for new platform deals, Flore said.

Asked about the fund's deal pipeline, Flore told Unquote that the fund has exclusivity for four new deals. Ufenau VI made eight platform deals, whereas Ufenau VII is expected to make 13-15 platform deals, with up to one third from beyond the DACH region (namely in Spain and Benelux), following the GP's opening of an office in Madrid in 2021.

People
Ufenau Capital Partners – Ralf Flore (managing partner).