TorQuest closes fourth mid-market fund at C$925 mln hard cap

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Torquest Fund IV Closing Belzberg
Torquest Founder Brent Belzberg. Photo courtesy of the firm.
  • Fund IV closed at 23 pct above original target
  • Fund IV nearly twice the size of predecessor
  • Founder Belzberg says fund will maintain previous strategy

TorQuest Partners closed its fourth private equity fund at its C$925 million (US$707 million) hard-cap target, earmarking the proceeds for investment in mid-market companies in Canada and the United States.

The Toronto firm said today that TorQuest Partners Fund IV closed 23 percent above its original target of C$750 million (US$573 million).

The fund’s limited partners were not identified. TorQuest previously raised commitments from a mix of Canadian and global institutional investors, including pension funds, banks and family offices.

TorQuest’s latest fundraising surpasses all past efforts. Fund IV is almost twice the size of its predecessor, which raised C$535 million in September 2013.

The firm’s capital under management now stands at more than C$2 billion.

Maintaining strategy

In a statement, Brent Belzberg, founder and senior managing partner of TorQuest, said Fund IV will execute the same investment strategy followed by prior funds.

The firm previously invested C$15 million to C$100 million or more in mid-market companies in industries including consumer products, financial services, industrial services and specialty chemicals.

Fund IV’s close follows a string of portfolio exits by TorQuest.

Last year it sold two companies, including Array Marketing, a provider of visual merchandising solutions to cosmetic brands. The sale to Carlyle Group, announced in December, proved lucrative, with TorQuest earning 5x its money and a 61 percent return.

TorQuest wrapped up two more liquidity events this year. They include January’s sale of specialty-chemicals maker Pinova to Germany’s Symrise for US$417 million.

TorQuest has also been making new investments. Last October it acquired Spinrite, a Canadian maker and distributor of consumer craft yarn. The company was previously held by Sentinel Capital Partners.

TorQuest was founded by Belzberg in 2002. The launch followed Belzberg’s sale of Harrowston, a publicly traded acquisition vehicle he led for nearly a decade, to Birch Hill Equity Partners.

TorQuest’s other senior investment pros include Managing Partner Eric Berke and Partners Daniel Sonshine, Alan Lever, Matthew Chapman and Michael Hollend.

Photo of Brent Belzberg courtesy of TorQuest Partners