Huron closes Fund V on $550m hard-cap – Exclusive

Lower mid-market firm Huron Capital has closed its sixth investment vehicle, Huron Fund V, on its hard-cap of $550 million and is nearing the close of a separate fund, Private Equity International has learned.

According to placement agent Sixpoint Partners, Detroit-based Huron surpassed its $500 million target on Fund V and received over $1 billion in investor demand during just three months of marketing.

New York-based investment bank Sixpoint Partners served as the exclusive placement agent for this fund. Huron declined to comment.

Limited partners in the sixth vehicle include endowments, foundations, fund of funds, public pensions, corporate pensions and family offices.

Fund V is known as the sixth vehicle because the fifth one is a separate fund, outside of Huron’s flagship series. A source familiar with the matter told PEI this separate fund, Huron Flex Equity Fund, targets non-control investments only and is about to wrap up its fundraising.

It is expected to reach its target of $100 million shortly, the source said.

PEIreported in May that Huron was adding non-control investments to its strategy in order to capitalise on opportunities to support growth companies without acquiring full control. The new strategy will typically take 20 to 49 percent of ownership in companies with $10 million to $200 million in revenue.

The previous flagship fund, Huron Fund IV, closed on $500 million, above its $400 million target, in 2013, according to PEI data. Investors in the fourth fund include Michigan Department of Treasury, which committed $35 million, Allstate Investments, which committed $42.55 million and University of Michigan, which committed $15 million, according to PEI data.

Like the fourth fund, Fund V will target control investments in companies with an enterprise value of maximum $200 million, in the business services, consumer products and services, and specialty manufacturing sectors. The fund will commit a total of $20 million to $70 million per deal, the source said.

Although internal rates of return were not available for Huron’s funds, a board of trustees meeting document at the Pontiac General Employees Retirement System from 30 August noted that Huron Fund III was one of the performance drivers.

Huron was founded in 1999 and is led by four management committee members: Brian Demkowicz, who formerly worked at Heller Equity Capital Corporation, now part of GE Capital; Michael Beauregard, formerly of privately-held conglomerate of private equity investments Duchossois Enterprises; John Higgins, who joined Huron as an investment banker at P&M Corporate Finance; and Peter Mogk, who was most recently vice president and treasurer of privately-held investment group Penske Corporation, according to Huron’s website.