Market wrap up:Towerbrook reaches $2.8B

Buyout and mezzanine firms have collected $247.1 billion in capital commitments so far this year.

The past week’s activities were led by Towerbrook Capital Partners, which held the final close of Towerbrook Investors III at $2.8 billion.

London and New York-based TowerBrook Capital Partners had secured $1.7 billion in commitments as of the end of the first quarter. The firm raised $1.3 billion for fund II, which closed in March 2006.

Towerbrook Capital targets mid-sized and large companies in Europe and North America. It invests mainly in leveraged buyouts, leveraged build-ups and distressed situations. Among its LPs is Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, which pledged up to $25 million to fund III.

Towerbrook Investors I, as of the end of last year, had generated a net IRR of 41.5% and an investment multiple of 2.8x for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. Towerbrook Capital, which was spun out of Soros Private Equity in April 2005, was still effectively part of Soros when it raised fund I. CalPERS is also an investor in fund III.

In addition to Towerbrook, New York-based J.C. Flowers & Co. also secured about $1.9 billion for its third fund, according to a regulatory filing from October. Greenwich, Conn.-based Brynwood Partners raised $120 million towards the $400 million target of Brynwood Partners VI. The firm, which closed its fifth fund at $250 million in 2004, invests in lower middle market companies with enterprise values of $15 million to $125 million.

Also, Greyrock Capital Group has secured $90 million for its latest mezzanine fund, GCG Investors II, which has a $250 million target, while WWC Capital Group has raised half of the $4 million target of WWC Capital Fund II A, the annex fund of WWC Capital Fund II.

Deal activity

Thomson Reuters

(publisher of PE Week) has tracked only five LBO transactions during the past week. The only transaction with a disclosed price was Bain Capital’s Keystone Automotive Operations Inc. acquisition of certain assets of bankrupt Arrow Speed Warehouse Inc., a wholesaler and retailer of automotive aftermarket parts and accessories. The purchase price was $12 million, which nudged year-to-date deal volume up to $124.8 billion. —Eamon Beltran