The slow deal-making market will likely force buyout and mezzanine investor
Terms of the firm’s current buyout vehicle, Audax Private Equity Fund III, state that the general partner cannot begin marketing a successor fund until fund III is at least 70% invested. At present, that fund is only about 53% deployed, according to co-CEO Geoffrey Rehnert.
The firm closed fund III in 2007 with $1 billion in commitments.
Although a target for fund IV has not yet been finalized, Rehnert said the new vehicle will likely match fund III’s capitalization of $1 billion.
The firm’s most recent buyout activity was its June acquisition of the U.S. and Mexico guarding operations of Garda World Security Corp., a provider of uniformed security, consulting and investigation services, according to Audax Group’s website.
Though fund-raising appears to be on hold for Audax Group’s next buyout fund, the firm’s sub-debt group is moving forward with its next mezzanine vehicle. Audax Mezzanine plans to hold a first close on its $750 million-targeted Audax Mezzanine Fund III by the end of the year.
Audax Group invests in small cap and lower-middle market companies across a wide range of industries, including security services, industrial manufacturing and business intelligence software. Transactions include leveraged buyouts and recapitalizations, corporate divestitures spin-offs and roll-outs.
Audax Group invests equity of $10 million to $100 million in transactions valued between $15 million and $250 million. The firm has more than 95 investment professionals in Boston, New York and China.
Audax Group’s first buyout fund, Audax Private Equity Fund I, a 2000 vintage, had a net IRR of 11.8% and an investment multiple of 1.3x, as of March 31, 2009, according to the