Bridge Growth holds first close on $1 bln inaugural fund

Sifting for its first acquisition, Bridge Growth Partners told prospective LPs it is focused on mid-market companies in two macro sectors, software and technology and specialty finance, according to a source familiar with the firm.

Bridge Growth has activated its fund, Bridge Growth Partners LP, and has booked some fresh commitments on top of about $250 million raised thus far, the source said.

Bridge Growth plans to make equity investments of $75 million to $100 million in companies with enterprise values of $250 million to $750 million. Executives at Bridge Growth committed $40 million to the new fund.  

In its most recent hire, Bridge Growth said in June that Alison Catchpole, former CFO and managing director of Solera Capital LLC, had joined the firm as vice president of finance and controller. Earlier this year, Phil Scanlan joined the strategic advisory board of Bridge Growth. He is the founder of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue and a former member of the Business Council of Australia. In September of last year, Jessica Bibliowicz, former chairman and CEO of broker-dealer National Financial Partners, joined Bridge Growth Partners as senior adviser.

Alok Singh, formerly of New Mountain, and Vestar veteran Sander Levy co-founded Bridge Growth in 2013, with Kevin Parker, former CEO of Deltek, a technology provider that New Mountain sold to Thoma Bravo in 2012 for a 5.3x return on equity. All three carry the title of managing principal for Bridge Growth. The Deltek transaction earned New Mountain a Large Market Deal of the Year award from Buyouts in 2013.

Meanwhile, New Mountain Capital has been on the fundraising trail for New Mountain Partners IV LP. The firm has raised $3.05 billion on a total offering amount of $4 billion, according to Form D amendment in July. In March, New Mountain disclosed $1.6 billion raised and a total offering amount of $3 billion. A spokesman for the firm declined to comment.

CORRECTION: Bridge Growth plans to write equity checks of $75 million to $100 million for its portfolio companies. A version of this story posted on Sept. 16 indicated that those figures in the fourth paragraph represented total investments in targets.