Citi Spinout With Fundraising On Horizon Eyes First Exit

A successful exit could help the New York-based firm as it seeks to raise its first fund as an independent firm.

The shop is close to selling WNA Inc., a manufacturer of disposable plates, cups and cutlery, to Olympus Partners, according to three sources and a recent regulatory filing. Norwest Equity Partners, a minority investor, is also a seller, sources told Buyouts. The deal may close around Oct. 1.

Citicorp Venture Capital, a predecessor of Seven Mile Capital, bought the company alongside Norwest Equity in August 2007. The company recently completed an acquisition of its own, buying the drink cup division of Winpak Portion Packaging Inc. in August.

Seven Mile Capital is planning its first independent fund, and the firm will likely seek to raise around $500 million, sources said. Closing this exit is one of the objectives the firm wanted to accomplish before officially launching the fundraising process.

The firm is led by Vince Fandozzi, formerly the global head of private equity and alternative investments at Citi Holdings, and Kevin Kruse, a former managing director at Warburg Pincus LLC. Seven Mile Capital was created to manage a fund of former Citi assets in which AXA Private Equity is the majority investor, after AXA bought about $1.7 billion in private equity assets from Citi in June 2011.

Olympus Partners will make the investment out of Olympus Growth Fund V LP, a $1.53 billion vehicle that closed in 2007. The Stamford, Conn.-based firm invests as little as $20 million for growth capital investments and as much as $300 million for buyouts.