Solamere approaches final close on $200m debut fund

Solamere Capital, the fledgling firm launched by Tagg Romney, son of former US presidential candidate Mitt Romney, is nearing a final close on its $200 million debut fund.

Solamere has collected the full amount, but will not officially close the fund until the end of January, a source with knowledge of the situation told PEO. The firm is not using a placement agent for the fundraising.

The firm has already allocated a portion of the fund to external fund managers. Solamere’s first fund will be allocated 60 percent to external private equity managers, and 40 percent to co- or direct investments.

As a fund of funds, Solamere looks to invest in top-tier managers with strong track records, employing various strategies, including distressed and turnaround investments. As a direct investor, the firm will target investments ranging between $5 million and $30 million.

The firm’s limited partners include high-net-worth individuals, many of them chief executive officers of corporations. The firm was founded “to serve as a unique investment vehicle for a small number of families and industry leaders with broad networks that aspired to aggregate their access to top-tier private equity firms, proprietary deal flow, management resources and industry insight”, the firm said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Solamere announced it hired Lee Scott, former chief executive officer of Wal-Mart, as an operating partner. Scott will assist in evaluating investment opportunities and “play a key role in contributing to the growth of its portfolio companies”, the firm said.

Solamere, founded in June 2008, brought on the former governor of Missouri, Roy Blunt, as a senior advisor in January. Based in Lexington, Massachusetts, the firm’s other partners include Spencer Zwick, Mitt Romney’s former national finance director, John Miller, chief executive of National Beef Packing Company and Eric Scheuermann, a partner with Jupiter Partners.

Mitt Romney co-founded Bain Capital in 1984.