Spanish private equity firm Nazca has surpassed its €250 million target for Fondo Nazca IV and is set to hold a final close on its €275 million hard-cap by December, according to a statement from the firm.
The oversubscribed fund was raised in less than six months, the firm said, receiving strong support from the majority of its existing investors as well as four new European institutional investors.
Nazca IV will continue the strategy of its predecessors, writing equity cheques of between €10 million and €35 million to invest in Spanish mid-market companies with sales of between €30 million and €200 million seeking to develop both national and international growth plans.
Nazca was established as a joint venture with Fortis Bank in 2001 by Carlos Carbó, Alvaro Mariátegui and Miguel Canalej.
Nazca spun out of Fortis Bank in 2009, backed by European fund of funds AlpInvest, which acquired Fortis’ stake in the firm. Fortis had been the original and sole financial sponsor of Nazca for its first two funds.
As part of the transaction, AlpInvest made an injection into Fund II and became the cornerstone investor Nazca III, which closed on €230 million, as reported by Private Equity International.
Fund III has made eight investment so far, including private aviation company Gestair, educational toy business Eurekakids, and food service business FoodBox.
Interest in Spain-focused funds is picking up among investors thanks to structural reforms and three consecutive years of economic growth, which have placed the economy among the fastest growing in Europe.
At the end of Q3 this year, funds had raised more than $500 million targeted at Spain, according to PEI data. This compares to $740 million for the whole of 2015, and $530 million for 2014.
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