North Atlantic Value begins raising second fund

North Atlantic Value has launched its second fund, the Trident Private Equity Fund II (TPE II.) It will look to invest up to £10m in smaller UK companies, pursuing buyout, buy-in, expansion capital, consolidation, public-to-private and pre-IPO opportunities. Up to 10% of the investments can be outside the UK.

Although the firm would not disclose the target amount, it is to be “substantially larger” than the previous fund, which had commitments of $30m. An initial close is expected by year-end. It will focus on the manufacturing, services, leisure and media, child/healthcare, wholesale/retail, financial services and construction sectors.

TPE II will target solid small cap companies, which the team believes are undervalued by the market, but may be too small to attract the attention of intermediaries and potential investors and may have recently found it increasingly difficult to access growth capital.

The firm is currently in talks with investors of the first fund and when these are completed it will open the fund up to others. Trident Private Equity Fund I was raised in 1999 and is 100% invested with an undisclosed number of exits.