Weston Presidio returns with Fund VI(2)

Five years after canceling its sixth flagship fund, Weston Presidio is back on the market, according to US Securities and Exchange Commission documents and a source with knowledge of the situation. 

The firm registered Weston Presidio VI with the SEC earlier this month. A source confirmed that Weston Presidio has begun to market the fund. 

The lower mid-market specialist canceled fundraising on Fund VI in 2008 because of an unfavorable deal environment, chief operating officer Therese Mrozek told Dow Jones at the time. Weston Presidio’s previous vehicle was only 60 percent invested when the firm opted to cancel fundraising. The firm needed “a few more quarters” to fully invest Fund V, according to the report. 

It is unclear whether Weston Presidio will seek its original $1 billion target for Fund VI. A fund target was not disclosed in SEC documents filed 6 February. Weston Presidio declined to comment. 

The firm’s return to fundraising follows an active 2012 in which Weston Presidio generated “attractive returns” on four sales and partial sales and a recapitalisation in 2012, according to a letter the firm distributed to investors. Those exits included the sale of both Fender Musical Instruments and Party City, led to $520 million in realisations. 

The firm has completed 20 transactions resulting in $1.5 billion in realisations since 2010, according to the letter. 

Weston Presidio added three companies to its portfolio last year, acquiring stakes in IT services business Digital Intelligence Systems (DISYS), breakfast restaurant chain Snooze as well as health and beauty consumer services company Edge Systems, according to the letter. The firm also provided follow-on investments to two existing portfolio companies, Xenon Arc and Flynn Restaurant Group. 

Weston Presidio was founded in 1991 and is managed by co-founder Michael Lazarus and R. Sean Honey. The firm maintains offices in San Francisco and Boston.