Charlesbank back in market with Fund VIII

Charlesbank Equity Fund VIII LP has a $1.75 billion hard cap, the person told sister website peHUB, which confirms a Buyouts report from January outlining the potential target and cap of the eighth fund.

It is not clear when Charlesbank Equity Fund VIII officially hit the market, but MassPRIM committed $200 million to the vehicle in June. The El Paso Firemen & Policemen Pension Fund committed $8 million to Fund VIII pending a legal review, according to Pensions & Investments.

And the Maine Public Employees’ Retirement System had been conducting due diligence on the fund in May, though it is not clear if the system has decided to commit. Andrew Sawyer, chief investment officer at MainePERS, did not return an email for comment.

Middle market-focused Charlesbank, which spun out of Harvard Management Company in 1998, raised $1.5 billion for its seventh fund in 2009. Fund VII was generating a 1.3x multiple and a 15.6 percent internal rate of return as of Dec. 31, 2013, according to performance numbers from the Nevada Public Employees’ Retirement System.

In May, Charlesbank acquired heating, air conditioning and plumbing services company American Residential Services from CI Capital Partners and Royal Palm Capital Partners.

In December, the firm sold Tecomet, which makes components for medical devices, aerospace and defense businesses, to Genstar Capital.

Chris Witkowsky is editor of peHUB.

Photo of a cyclist along the bank of the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by Brian Snyder for Reuters. All rights reserved.