Greenpark smashes target

The fund has a broad remit, able to invest in buyout, development/growth capital, mezzanine and other funds, as well as acquire portfolios of direct investments. It will target secondary opportunities in Europe and the US.

The closing of GII3 brings the total funds under management for the firm to €1.3bn, and following the closing of the debut fund on €150m in 2003 and a second fund on €350m in 2004.

Marleen Groen, chief executive of Greenpark Capital, said: “The response to GII3 was fantastic. Increasingly secondaries are becoming an essential portfolio management tool, and naturally investors are keen to participate in the market’s growth. As an established operator with two successfully invested funds behind us, we were gratified that so many of our existing investors chose to take part in our third offering.”

The firm expects to source most of its deals from pension funds, banks, funds of funds and family offices. The fund will focus on mature fund positions, including single limited partnership positions through to portfolios of complex multi-jurisdictional fund positions, portfolios of direct investments and tail-ends of funds.

“Investors have become increasingly receptive to secondaries as a portfolio management tool in the last few years, at the same time as they’ve been increasing allocations to the primary market. With our understanding of the secondaries space it was clear to us that as the market matured, and with competition increasing, the market would start shifting towards more tailored and sophisticated structures,” says Groen.

While the selling of LP positions remains very much a niche corner of the private equity world, there has been a rapid maturing of the industry over the last five years as investors have become more sophisticated and the buyouts market in Europe has established itself. Between 2 and 4% of the total commitments made by investors to private equity funds now change hands each year as investors are becoming more pro-active and less reluctant to sell fund stakes.