Claims Co. Exit Should Bolster Sponsor Fundraises: UPDATED

The sale should help the lower mid-market buyout firm as it goes to market with a suite of new funds, while also allowing Windjammer to put capital to work from a fund that was raised six years ago as it looks to raise its next fund as well.

The sale, which closed May 28, has generated 2.9x net return on its capital and a 25 percent net internal rate of return for Riverside, Buyouts has learned. Riverside was expected to announce the exit on July 1.

The sale marks an exit for Riverside Capital Appreciation Fund V LP, which the firm closed with $1.17 billion in commitments in 2009. It’s unclear how much Windjammer Capital is investing in the company.

Based in Cleveland, Global Claims helps property insurance companies settle claims in North America and the United Kingdom.

Cleveland-based Riverside bought the company in 2008, and helped it expand via two acquisitions, which broadened the company’s geographic reach and helped it diversify its offerings by expanding the claims services it provides. The company had concentrated its business on examining damaged flooring, but under Riverside has expanded into siding and roofing as well. Founded in 1993, the company conducts 500,000 tests annually.

The return will mark a recent success story that Riverside can tout as seeks upwards of $2 billion for three funds. The firm is in the market seeking for roughly $100 million for its next Asia-focused fund, Riverside Asia Fund II; roughly $1 billion for its next flagship global buyout fund, Riverside Capital Appreciation Fund VI; and roughly $600 million its next Europe-focused fund, Riverside Europe Fund V, as Buyouts reported previously.

For Newport Beach, Calif.-based Windjammer Capital, the investment will come out of its third fund, Windjammer Senior Equity Fund III LP, which closed with $575 million in commitments in July 2006. The firm is currently in the market seeking $700 million for its fourth fund, according to a source.

Executives at Windjammer Capital were not immediately available for comment.

(UPDATE: Story is updated to include the amount Windjammer Capital is seeking for its latest fund.)