Paul Capital Raises $145 Mln For Secondary Fund; Target $2 Bln

Paul Capital is one of the pioneers in the now-booming secondary market, with offices in Hong Kong, London, New York, Paris, San Francisco and Sao Paulo, 100 employees and more than $7.3 billion under management. The firm traces its roots to 1991 when founder Philip Paul acquired 43 venture capital and leveraged buyout fund positions from Hillman Company.

It’s not clear just how long the San Francisco-based firm has been in the market with Fund X. Paul Capital’s first Form D for Fund X, filed on June 1, 2012, listed the total amount sold as zero. The latest amendment filed on May 31 listed $145 million sold and $1.86 billion remaining to be sold. A call to Paul Capital Partners and emails by Buyouts were not returned.

San Francisco-based Paul Capital Partners lists David De Weese as executive officer and promoter of Paul Capital Partners X LP, along with Simon Guenzl, Daniel Mulderry, Guy Rico, Elaine Small and Brian Sullivan. Philip Jensen is listed as manager of the general partner for the fund.

De Weese leads global secondary transaction sourcing activities for the firm, according to Paul Capital’s website. Guenzl is a partner on the firm’s secondary team; Mulderry and Sullivan also work on secondary deals and Small is managing director of the firm’s secondary private equity operations. Jensen is chief financial officer of the firm.

The filing lists sales commissions of $7.5 million. Sales compensation recipients include Edgeline Capital LLC of Beverly Hills, Calif., Woori Investment & Securities Co. Ltd of Seoul, and Lazard entities in Chile and Peru.

Meantime, Paul Capital has also launched three other funds under the Paul Capital Partners X umbrella. Paul Capital Partners X International LP lists $57 million raised and a target of $1 billion as of May 31. Paul Capital Partners X Emerging Markets LP lists $41.8 million raised and a target of $600 million as of May 31 and Paul Capital Partners X EM International LP disclosed zero dollars raised and a target of $300 million, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is not clear what investment strategies they will pursue.

Known backers in Paul Capital Partners X LP include Generali Global Private Equity, Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and the San Diego County Employees Retirement Association, according to Thomson One, a product of Thomson Reuters.

Fund X comes after 2007 vintage year funds Paul Capital Partners IX LP raised $1.7 billion and Paul Capital Partners IX International LP raised $737 million, according to data from Thomson One. 

Among the limited partners invested in Paul Capital Partners, California State Teachers’ Retirement System committed $50 million to Paul Capital Partners VIII-B in 2004. It reported an internal rate of return of 8.8 percent for its investment as of Sept. 30, 2012.

In 2011, Paul Capital’s funds-of-funds unit, Paul Capital Investments, spun out as Top Tier Capital Partners, a private equity asset management firm focused on fund commitments and co-investments. As part of the deal, the Bank of Ireland and Paul Capital Advisors sold their equity interests in Top Tier Capital Partners, which became an employee-owned firm.