Cinven exceeds target with mega fund

UK buyout house Cinven has surpassed the EURO3.5 billion target size of its third fund with a final close at over EURO4.3 billion. The fund has received commitments from over 100 international institutions and is significantly larger than its previous 1998 fund which raised EURO2.4 billion. The larger size of the fund reflects the growing number and size of opportunities in the large buyout arena across Europe.

The fund attracted a significant number of new international institutions as well as existing investors. As a result of this support the team was able to complete fundraising within the original timeframe in spite of tough market conditions. Andrew Joy, director at Cinven said: “We are delighted with the results of our fundraising in an environment in which it has not been easy to raise funds for private equity investment. We have had excellent support from our existing partners, and equally encouragingly we have had a significant number of large new international institutions committing to the third Cinven fund.”

The fund has already completed its first two investments. In December 2001 it backed the EURO925 million buyout of German-based Klckner Pentaplast, a global leader in rigid film for packaging. In March this year it sealed the EURO3.2 billion buyout of the Unique Pub Company, one of the UK’s largest pub groups. Most recently, Cinven announced the EURO1.2 billion acquisition in France of the healthcare and business publishing activities of Vivendi Universal Publishing which is expected to complete in June.