CBPE closes Fund VIII on £405m

The firm spun out from UK investment bank Close Brothers in December. Fund VIII, launched in 2008, will be the first for the firm as an independent entity.

CBPE Capital has closed its eighth fund with £405 million (€462 million; $663 million) in commitments after more than a year on the fundraising trail.

The fund is the firm’s first since spinning out from UK investment bank Close Brothers in December.

The fund has commitments from 30 investors, including several new LPs. Fund VIII was launched in the fourth quarter of 2008 and reached a first closed on £270 million in April 2009.  CBPE declined to name any of the new investors.

The firm’s prior fund, CBPE Fund VII, closed on £360 million in 2004 and was fully invested last year.

CBPE used Birchwood Partners as a placement agent for the fundraising.

CBPE focuses on investments in sectors like support services, consumer, leisure, industrial, transport and healthcare. The firm will target businesses with enterprise values of up to £150 million.

The spinout will not change anything about the way the firm invests, Simon Wilbig, a partner with CBPE, told PEO. “We’d always been a pretty autonomous business. 95 percent of the funds came from external LPs,” he said.

CBPE’s limited partners include the University of Michigan, AlpInvest and JPMorgan Asset Management.

The firm has not made any investments from the new fund. Past investments from Fund VII include Rosemont, an oral liquid pharmaceuticals manufacturer; Warwick International, a chemicals manufacturer and IDIS, a pharmaceuticals distribution business.