Insignia looks to wrap up inaugural $350 mln fund this year

In an update to LPs over the summer, Insignia said it hopes to have the fund closed before the start of 2015. Insignia told LPs about a year ago that it closed on about 40 percent of its target, or $140 million.

Since then, the firm inked its first publicly disclosed deal by purchasing Truco Enterprises, a Dallas-based maker of tortilla chips, salsa and queso under the brand On the Border. Walnut Creek, California-based Insignia Capital paid an undisclosed sum to Arbor Investments, with Houlihan Lokey advising  on the deal, which was announced July 7.

The Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association stepped up as an anchor investor in Insignia Capital Partners in June 2013, with a $100 million commitment. Johns Hopkins is another LP in the fund, a source said.

Lowe left Friedman Fleischer & Lowe LLC in 2011 after founding the firm with Tully Friedman in 1997, prompting that firm to change its name to FFL Capital. FFL is now on its way to a final close above its $1.5 billion target on FFL Capital Partners IV LP, Buyouts reported in August.