Electra raises £100m for first fund

Electra Partners, a UK private equity firm, has raised £100m for its debut fund, bringing its total available firepower to €1bn. Although the vehicle is the first third-party limited liability partnership for Electra Partners, it has a long history of private equity investment.

Electra Investment Trust, now renamed Electra Private Equity, was subject to a buyout bid by global private equity firm 3i in 1999. As a result of the move, the upper mid-market and larger buyout activities were spun off as Cognetas, while Electra Partners was formed to make smaller investments.

Electra Partners, in combination with the listed trust, will provide capital for mid-market private equity transactions but also has teams focused on development capital, mezzanine and real estate. Typical investments range from £20m to £70m in transaction sizes, with enterprise values of between £50m and £300m.

Clifford Chance provided legal advice on the fundraising, which was conducted in-house.

“Raising this new fund marks an important step in our return to the investment market,” said David Symondson, partner at Electra Partners. “We are now well-positioned to be an active player in the mid-market buyout sector over the coming years.”

According to the firm, the listed fund has achieved a return on equity of 22.6% on an annualised basis. Deals in which the trust invested include Capital Safety Group, a US safety harness manufacturer, which was acquired in a £102m management buyout in 1998 before being sold to Candover for US$565m in early 2007; and, more recently, the £246m buyout and merger of Kingfield Health, ISA Group and Supplies Team in June of last year.