Firms & Funds

Brazos spinout CenterOak launches sophomore fund

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CenterOak Partners, Brazos Private Equity, private equity, fundraising
  • Closed Fund I in 2016 on cap
  • Formed in 2014 by Brazos co-founder, alumni
  • Quick turnaround for new firm

CenterOak Partners, a spinout from Brazos Private Equity, is in market with its second fund, targeting around $700 million, three sources told Buyouts.

Whether CenterOak is using a placement agent is unclear. The firm worked with Credit Suisse on its debut fundraising. CenterOak closed Fund I on $420 million in 2016.

A spokesman for CenterOak declined comment.

Randall Fojtasek, co-founder of Brazos in 1999, launched CenterOak in 2014 along with fellow Brazos alumni Michael Salim, Lucas Cutler and Jason Sutherland.

The other partner, William Henry, formerly was CEO of a Brazos portfolio company and led his own advisory shop.

CenterOak, Dallas, targets investments in industrial growth, consumer and business services. It invests $20 million to $90 million of equity in companies with enterprise values of $50 million to $250 million.

In November the firm said it invested in GNAP, which distributes industrial abrasive products. In March, the firm said it invested in JN Phillips Auto Glass and combined it with Techna Glass, forming TruRoad Holdings Inc, an automotive glass and claims-management company.

Brazos raised three funds. In 2014, the firm said it would not be raising a fourth fund and its partners would split off to do different things. About a third of the capital for CenterOak Fund I came from Brazos investors, Buyouts reported.

“It’s natural as you get to the end of a deployment period, the partners ask themselves, ‘Are we up for a new fundraising together?’ People are in different places in terms of their families, their business careers, and they want different things,” Salim told Buyouts at the time.

Brazos’s vintage 2000 Fund I closed on $250 million; the firm closed Fund II on $400 million in 2005 and Fund III raised $714 million in 2008.

Jeff Fronterhouse, another Brazos co-founder, along with Barron Fletcher, founder of Parallel Investment Partners, formed Riata Capital Group, Buyouts reported in 2015.

Action Item: Reach Randall Fojtasek at rfojtasek@centeroakpartners.com.