Fundraising

France’s Weinberg taps co-invest, GP commitment to double fund size

The mid-market firm used co-investments and a larger GP commitment to raise €295m for Fund III.

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Weinberg Capital Partners, a French mid-market private equity firm, has used co-investment opportunities and a larger general partner commitment to help it nearly double the size of its latest vehicle.

The Paris-headquartered firm raised €295 million for Weinberg Capital Partners Fund III, above its €250 million target and just shy of a €300 million hard-cap. Fund III is almost double the size of its €165 million predecessor, a 2013-vintage.

The fund attracted commitments from roughly 50 limited partners in Europe, including company chief executives, pensions and family offices, partner Philippe Klocanas told Private Equity International.

Weinberg tapped growing appetite among LPs who want to reduce fees associated with blind-pool investments to help it with the larger fundraise.

“For every €1 that we invested through Fund II we proposed 50 cents of co-invest,” Klocanas said. “We have clear proof that we can keep on deploying the fund … so it did facilitate the understanding for LPs that we would be in a good position to deploy a €300 million fund.”

Fund III has already completed its first deal at an enterprise value of €200 million, representing around 10 percent of the vehicle. The firm suggested almost the same amount for co-investment, allowing it to target investments at the higher end of its deal bracket and thus deploy larger chunks at a time.

It also widened its GP commitment to include capital from Weinberg’s entire team, Klocanas said.

“It’s something that facilitates the conviction of the LPs,” he said.

The GP committed close to €12 million – roughly 4 percent – into Fund III, representing a greater proportion than in its previous vehicle. Klocanas did not elaborate on the size of Fund II’s GP commitment.

The firm expects to have deployed 15 percent of Fund III through two deals by the end of September. It is targeting up to 11 investments from the latest vehicle, up from eight in Fund II.

Weinberg also operates real estate and public equity fund platforms.