LFM Capital debut fund hits $110 mln hard cap for industrial deals

Fundraising for LFM Capital Partners drew support predominantly from university endowments, Steve Cook, firm co-founder and executive managing director, told Buyouts. He declined to reveal the names of LPs. From start to finish, fundraising took about five months, Cook noted.

LFM Capital hopes to line up its first acquisition target by the middle of next year,  “There are a number of people that we’re in talks with, but we don’t have a deal under a letter of intent yet,” said Cook, who was previously a principal with TVV Capital. The firm hopes to acquire manufacturing and industrial services companies with enterprise values of $15 million to $75 million. To source deals, the LFM Capital plans to build direct relationship with business owners rather than buy through an auction.

Rather than accumulate a track record of deals first, LFM Capital opted to raise a buyout fund right out of the starting gate. The firm’s website lists a team of executive managers and private equity professionals offering more than 14 years of lower middle-market private equity experience and 36 years of executive management and operating experience.

Cook’s co-founders are Rick Reisner and Dan Shockley, who are both managing directors. Like Cook, Reisner was previously a principal with TVV, where he worked from 2004 until 2014. Prior to LFM, Shockley served as a general manager at Ditch Witch and Caterpillar and as a director of data center operations for Amazon.com. 

LFM Capital filed a Form D with regulators on Oct. 21 that said it had raised $109 million from nine investors. Cook, Reisner and Shockley are listed by name in the document.