DBAG Fund IV final close

After a year of fund raising Deutsche Beteiligung has closed its DBAG Fund IV at €228m, slightly below the initial target of €250m. For the first time in its 38-year history the listed private equity group has raised money from outside its principal shareholder base. However, the fund’s sponsors are two of the company’s main shareholders, Deutsche Bank and insurance group Gerling.

In total 75% of the capital has come from German investors, with the remainder committed by US, UK, European and a small number of Asian investors. Wilken von Hodenberg, a member of Deutsche Beteiligungs’ management board, said: “A large part of the total capital that private equity investors have committed to private equity funds in the past 12 months in Germany has been channelled to us.” The German Venture Capital Association (BVK) reported that just €269m had been raised in Germany in the first half of 2003.

Over the next three to four years the fund will invest in the buyouts of high growth, medium-sized companies in Germany, selected European countries and the US, committing equity of €10m to €60m. Buyouts completed so far include AKsys, an automotive supplier, the engineering group Hochtemperatur Engineering, and Casco Surfaces, a manufacturer of surface material solutions for the furniture and flooring industries. An agreement has been reached on a fourth investment (Babcock Borsig Power Service), which awaits completion.