US private equity house the Carlyle Group has raised €530m for its second European technology fund, beating its €500m target and completing its first transaction in the process.
Carlyle Europe Technology Partners (CETP) II has bought Gardner Group, a UK supplier of global aviation components, from Dunedin and Rolls-Royce.
The new fund will use this opening deal to kick-start an investment strategy which will see it invest between €20m and €60m per deal in small and mid-market buyouts and expansion capital transactions.
Technology sectors targeted include: aerospace & defence, automotive & transportation, business services, consumer & retail, energy & power, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure and telecommunications & media.
The fund management team is made up of 11 investment professionals, headed by Carlyle managing director David FitzGerald. He said: “CETP’s returns are based on value creation; we are able to be flexible in the development of capital structures, which is essential when working with growing businesses. We believe this gives us a distinct advantage in today’s challenging financing conditions. During these difficult times, we have the capacity to support the ambitions of entrepreneurial businesses that will benefit from the resources of a globally diversified investor.”
It is the second fund focused on small to mid-cap technology companies since the summer. In September UK firm Kennet Partners raised €200m for its growth equity fund.
Towards the beginning of the year Investcorp Technology Partners, which backs similar types of businesses, closed its third fund on US$500m in February.
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