Fund News In Brief

Technology investor Amadeus Capital Partners has held a first close at $75 million on the Amadeus IV Digital Prosperity Fund. The fund will invest in late stage venture and growth companies, predominantly in mature markets, developing online and mobile applications and services targeted at the rapidly expanding middle classes in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.

Aston Capital, a private equity firm, has launched LightCap I Fund. No financial terms were disclosed. According to the company, the fund will be used to finance LED lighting purchases and installations for Revolution Lighting Technologies customers. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, Revolution Lighting Technologies is a provider of LED lighting systems.

Blue Wolf Capital Partners has closed its latest fund at $300 million. Investors in Blue Wolf Capital Fund III LP include include foundations, endowments, fund of funds and public, corporate, and Taft-Hartley pension funds. Stanwich Advisors was the placement agent.

UK mid-market buyout firm Dunedin has closed its third fund, Dunedin Buyout Fund III, at its hard cap of 300 million pounds ($460 million). The fund exceeded its target of 250 million pounds.

Grey Mountain Partners has closed its new fund, Grey Mountain Partners Fund III LP, at $425 million. Boulder, Colorado-based Grey Mountain typically invests in North American businesses with enterprise values between $30 million and $150 million. The firm focuses on sectors such as aerospace and defense, packaging and food and beverage companies.

Global investment firm HarbourVest Partners has closed $3.6 billion for Dover Street VIII L.P, a global secondary fund. The fund will focus on making secondary investments in venture capital, leveraged buyouts and other private equity assets. It will also invest in portfolios of operating companies, manager spin-outs and structured transactions.

JP Anderson Ltd, a subsidiary of Sloud, is forming a private equity fund, the Sierra Leone Development Fund I LP. The vehicle will promote economic development in the nation of Sierra Leone in western Africa. JP Anderson said it is looking to raise and invest $100 million in small- to medium-sized businesses and government related agency projects. JP Anderson, of Freetown, Sierra Leone, is an investment bank.

J-STAR has closed its second fund at 11.86 billion yen (US$119 million). The Japanese private equity firm will invest in 10 companies with a deal size between 1 billion yen to 10 billion yen.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co will deploy its new $6 billion Asia fund at a time when an economic slowdown and emerging market sell-off has knocked the overall value of Asia Pacific corporations to historic lows, Reuters reported. While the market volatility should offer KKR opportunities to buy low, the record of the private equity industry in Asia shows that investing in the region is not as easy as it seems, Reuters wrote.

Lexington Partners has closed $1.57 billion for its third fund, Lexington Co-Investment Partners III. Limited partners include the Florida State Board of Administration and the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System. Lexington Partners is a global alternative investment manager.

Palatine Private Equity, the U.K. private equity firm, has closed its second fund at its hard cap of of 150 million pounds ($224.1 million). Fund II consists of 100 million pounds from existing investors and 50 million pounds from new investors. New investors include GE Pension Trust (U.S.), Nippon Life (Japan), a large German based insurance company and a family office based in London. Palatine invests 10 million pounds to 25 million pounds of equity in regional lower mid-market deals.

The Patriot Capital Family of Funds has closed its fourth SBIC fund at $250 million. Patriot Capital III SBIC LP exceeded its capital raise target by more than 20 percent, Patriot Capital said. With offices in Baltimore, Chicago and Dallas, Patriot Capital provides capital for change of control transactions, recapitalizations, acquisitions, refinancings and growth initiatives.

Private Advisors’ fifth fund closed in June at $279 million, a source told peHUB. Private Advisors Small Company Buyout Fund V LP spent 18 months marketing and ended up exceeding its $250 million target, the person said. The firm also has $61 million from a parallel ERISA fund for a total of $340 million that it will invest in 15 to18 private equity fund managers, the person said. Private Advisors, an affiliate of New York Life Investments, invests in fund managers that focus on growth equity, small buyouts and turnaround situations.

Privateer Holdings announced the completion of a $7 million Series A funding round. Investors include high net worth individual investors and family offices. Privateer, of Seattle, is private equity firm with a strategic plan to invest in companies in the cannabis space and build mainstream brands.

Raven Capital Management has raised more than $150 million in capital commitments for the Raven Asset-Based Opportunity Fund I. Also, Raven named Chris Felice as the firm’s controller. Based in New York, Raven is a private equity firm that provides loans and equity purchases.

Trive Capital Holdings, an investment firm in Dallas, has raised $300 million for its first fund, Trive Capital Fund I LP. The fund plans on investing in North American-based lower mid-market companies. MVision Private Equity Advisers served as exclusive fundraising adviser for the fund.