Adams Street Thinks Globally With $900M Fund

Adams Street Partners LLC announced the final close of its 2002 fund-of-funds program, which raised $900 million for clients spanning Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the U.S.

With the fund closing, the London-based firm now manages $6.5 billion in private equity assets.

To coincide with the fund closing, Adams Street is adding two senior executives to the fold. Dennis McCrary will join the U.S. Partnership Team in Chicago on April 15 after 20 years in various positions at Bank of America, most recently as Co-Head of Bank of America Capital Investors-Chicago. He was a managing partner of a 19-member team that originated, structured and managed equity and mezzanine investments resulting from leveraged buyouts, recapitalization and growth financing. A majority of these investments were made in conjunction with independent private equity limited partnerships. Prior to joining the equity and mezzanine investment business, McCrary headed the Structured Finance Group at Continental Bank and in that capacity was responsible for the origination and portfolio management of loans related to corporate acquisitions, recapitalization and other leveraged transactions for private equity firms and other bank clients.

Ian Menzies has joined the Fund Management team at Adams Street Partners in London after spending five years as an executive recruiter working with private equity firms seeking senior management candidates for their groups and their portfolio companies. He will focus on the development of institutional clients in the United Kingdom, Europe and the Middle East and support the partnership team in the sourcing and evaluation of private equity partnerships. Menzies was previously a founding partner of the private equity group of Henderson Investors making and managing direct investments in mid-sized buyouts and growth capital opportunities. He spent 11 years with 3i plc where he managed investments and was involved in business development.

Adams Street Partners is one of the largest managers of private equity in the United States. It created its first fund-of-funds offering in the late 1970s.

Adams Street is in the process of raising Adams Street V, their fifth direct fund, investing in venture capital companies focusing on life sciences and information technology. Adams Street Partners’ technology area focuses mainly on software applications, services. Fund IV was a $180 million closed-end fund that was raised in 1999. Adams Street Partners has deployed eight of its people to actively invest that fund.