Onex Raises $770 Million For ONCAP III

Firm: Onex Corp.

Fund: ONCAP III

Amount Raised: C$800 million ($778 million)

Onex Corp. has returned to the mid-market fundraising market for the first time in five years, raising C$800 million ($778 million) for its new fund, ONCAP III, it announced. Onex said it has committed C$280 million and continues to be ONCAP’s largest investor.

Onex, a publicly traded private equity company based in Toronto, last raised a mid-market fund in May 2006, when it closed ONCAP II at C$574 million. The company’s first mid-market fund, ONCAP I, closed in December 1999 at C$400 million.

The new fund exceeded its target, but Onex did not say how much it had initially sought in commitments.

The parent holding company focuses on investing in carve-outs of subsidiaries, operational restructurings and build-ups in a range of industries, according to sister news service Reuters. As of Dec. 31, 2010, it had seven industry segments: electronics manufacturing services, aerostructures, health care, financial services, customer support services, metal services and other businesses.

The ONCAP funds are earmarked for North American small and mid-size companies that are leaders in their defined market niches and possess meaningful growth potential. Onex said that with Fund III, like its predecessors, it would seek to write checks of $50 million to $100 million for companies in Canada and the United States.

Onex has begun investing out of Fund III. In June, it invested an undisclosed amount in Hopkins Manufacturing Corp., a maker of automotive aftermarket products based in Emporia, Kan., according to Thomson Reuters, publisher of Buyouts.

The ONCAP funds have acquired 15 platform companies and completed 61 total acquisitions. The funds have earned a multiple of 4.3x invested capital and a 43 percent gross rate of return on their realized investments, according to the firm.