Francisco Partners closes Fund V on nearly $4bn – exclusive

Francisco Partners has closed its latest fund, Francisco Partners V, on $3.975 billion, Private Equity International has learned.

The San Francisco-based firm beat its target of $3.25 billion, including a GP commitment of $100 million, according to a person familiar with the matter. The GP commitment is a slight increase from that in the previous vehicle. The fund was oversubscribed and LP base is similar to previous funds.

The firm did not use a placement agency for the fundraising.

Francisco Partners IV had a target of $2 billion in capital from limited partners and closed on $2.88 billion in 2015, according to PEI data.

The firm plans on making 15 to 25 investments out of Fund V in companies with enterprise values of $100 million-$500 million, according to a memo this summer from the Nebraska Investment Council, which committed $50 million to the fund. The investor also had committed $20 million to Francisco Partners IV.

Other LPs in Fund V include University of Houston System, Oklahoma Police Pension & Retirement System, South Carolina Retirement System Investment Commission, Florida State Board of Administration and the State of Oregon through the Oregon Investment Council.

Terms for Fund V will be identical to Fund IV, according to the document from Nebraska, with a management fee of 1.5 percent of committed amount with a step down to 1.25 percent post investment period. It has a 20 percent carried interest and 8 percent preferred return.

Francisco Partners, which had $10.3 billion in assets under management as of 30 June, focuses on mid-market technology investments including value-oriented and growth opportunities. The firm won an OpEx award 2017 for its investment in Paymetric.

Fund III, which closed on $2 billion in 2009, had a net internal rate of return of 19.5 percent, according to Nebraska’s memo, although the date for this return rate was unclear.

Francisco Partners was not immediately available to comment.