Funds

Epiris eyes final close – exclusive

The firm has raised £800m for its first fund since its 30-year tenure as manager of the Electra Private Equity portfolio came to an end.

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UK private equity firm Epiris is edging towards final close on its first fund as an independent manager.

The firm has collected £800 million ($1.07 billion; €912.5 million) for Epiris Fund II and is set to close somewhere in the range of £800million-£900 million, according to two sources with knowledge of the fundraising. The date of final close is not clear.

Epiris declined to comment.

Epiris II hit a first close in May 2017 on £500 million, PEI revealed. At the time it expected fundraising to be wound up by autumn of the same year.

Investors include Derbyshire County Council Pension Fund, which committed £25 million, and District of Columbia Retirement Board, which committed $39.6 million, according to PEI data.

In December 2016, the firm known as Electra Partners said it would adopt the name Epiris “as it seeks to reflect its future and its independence from Electra Private Equity PLC”, the listed investment trust whose portfolio it managed for 30 years.

That relationship was effectively brought to an end in October 2016 when the listed fund served notice on its long-standing fund manager, a move engineered by activist investor Edward Bramson.

Epiris will continue with the Electra Partners’ investment strategy, focusing on value investing and business transformation. The fund will seek buyouts of UK companies with an enterprise value of up to £500 million and “loan to own” transactions.