Golding opens office in NYC after fund close

Golding Capital Partners, a German fund of funds manager, has held a €212 million final close on its Golding Buyout Europe SICAV VI, according to a statement.

The Munich-based firm, which came to market in 2011 targeting €200 million, raised approximately 55 per cent of the capital from existing investors.

The fund attracted 22 LPs with most of them coming from the German-speaking region, Jeremy Golding, founder and managing partner of GCP, told Private Equity International.

The vehicle, which has a GP commitment of more than €1.5 million, will back European managers in the small and mid-market buyout sector.

The fund close comes as Golding attempts to make a further push into the US market. The firm has recently opened an office in New York, which is staffed by two investment professionals, Golding said.
The office is led by Erik Swimmer, a former Sun Capital dealmaker, who will work alongside Jakob Schramm, who has been with Golding for 10 years.

Golding also plans to launch another vehicle in the summer which will target both European and US-based small and mid-cap funds. The portfolio will also feature secondaries and co-investments to further optimise the return and cash-flow profile, the firm said.

“We have invested in the US before, but we have never had a fund solely dedicated to the US. For the successor Golding Buyout Fund the focus will still be on Europe, but we will invest up to 30 percent in the US,” Golding said.

The move comes after their investors expressed their appetite for backing US-based GPs, as well as European managers. “The two most sophisticated private equity markets are Europe and the US. Our investors are keen to diversify and want to have exposure to both these markets,” said Golding.

The firm, which has a workforce of approximately 60, manages €2.8 billion in assets for more than 100 institutional investors including insurance companies, pension funds, foundations and savings and cooperative banks, according to the firm’s website.