Anacacia closes oversubscribed third fund on $226m

Australian mid-market firm Anacacia Capital has held a first and final close on its third fund in less than two months after its end-April launch.

Anacacia has raised A$300 million ($226 million; €195 million) for Anacacia Private Equity III. The fund was oversubscribed, receiving interest from new and existing investors. A little over half the investors are from Australia and the balance from the US, Asia and Europe, Jeremy Samuel, founder of Anacacia, told Private Equity International.

LPs include superannuation funds, global pension funds, endowments, family offices and funds of funds.

Samuel added: “We had great support from our existing investors but also a higher proportion of new overseas investors that we have known for a long time and this slightly larger fund made room for those investors to make a more meaningful commitment.”

Fund III is twice the size of its predecessor, the 2013-vintage A$150 million Anacacia Fund II. It raised A$52.8 million for its debut fund in 2008, according to PEI data.

Samuel said that the firm will continue to target the same double digit absolute returns for Fund III as prior funds.

The firm typically invests in Australia and New Zealand-based small and medium enterprises with revenues of between A$20 million and A$250 million and earnings of at least A$5 million, Anacacia said on its website. Capital from Fund III will be invested in up to 12 companies facing ownership change or succession as well as in family companies on the transition from family to private to public companies.

Potential deals would be mainly in the consumer, industrial and service sectors of the Australasian economy.

The firm has made 60 investments in ANZ-based SMEs over the last decade. Its current portfolio includes electronic products distributor Acculec, timber manufacturer Big River and education company Catalyst Education.