Aldrich eyes year-end final close for $250 mln debut fund

  • Aldrich targeting $250 mln
  • Firm specializes in software, healthcare IT, fintech
  • Aldrich team has three pre-fund investments

Aldrich Capital Partners plans a final close on its $250 million debut fund at year-end, LP memos obtained by Buyouts show.

The firm’s general partnership group will contribute $10 million, or 4 percent of the fund’s committed capital, a Connecticut Office of the State Treasurer memo says. Operating partners associated with the fund are expected to commit an additional $20 million.

Treasurer Denise Nappier, the sole trustee of the state’s retirement system, is weighing a commitment of up to $35 million to the fund.

While large institutions such as Connecticut are often wary of betting on first-time funds, the track records of Aldrich founders Mirza Baig and Raz Zia generated “attractive returns,” according to the Connecticut memo.

Prior to launching Aldrich, Baig and Zia’s aggregate track record generated $1.2 billion of realizations on $638 million of invested capital, the memo says. Those investments still have $800 million of unrealized value.

Zia previously was a managing director for Goldman Sachs’s principal investment business. Baig previously founded three companies and was CFO of AOL’s ecommerce group.

Aldrich will use its debut fund to invest in fintech, healthcare IT, software and tech-enabled businesses. The firm typically looks at companies with proprietary software and revenue exceeding $10 million.

The Aldrich team made three investments before they launched their debut fund, investing $5 million in cybersecurity business PhishMe, $15 million in Lavu, a fintech company, and $40 million in Woundtech, which produces healthcare IT.

The firm did not respond to a request for comment.

Action Item: For more on Aldrich: www.aldrichcap.com

Hands are silhouetted against a backdrop projected with the picture of various currencies in this illustration taken April 4, 2016. Photo courtesy Reuters/Kacper Pempel/Illustration