Philly Firm Eyes Year-End Close To Fund IV

Firm: Milestone Partners

Fund: Milestone Partners IV LP

Target: $350 million

Placement Agent: Capstone Partners

Buyouts had reported in February that Milestone had raised about $150 million for the fund, Milestone Partners IV LP.

Based in the Philadelphia suburb of Radnor, Milestone invests in a variety of industries in the lower mid-market, typically investing $5 million to $40 million of equity into businesses that generate EBITDA of $3 million to $20 million. Its portfolio includes Avure Technologies, a designer of pressing equipment used in the development of components used in the aerospace, electronics and health care industries; Black Letter Discovery Inc., a provider of discovery-related document services for law firms; and Mariner Finance, a provider of consumer loans and insurance.

If Milestone is able to raise $350 million in commitments, Fund IV would mark sizeable increase from its third fund, for which the firm raised $240 million in 2008 and 2009, according to the Thomson One private equity database. The firm will pursue the same size deals with Fund IV but will buy more companies, the sources said.

Scott Warren, a former managing director at Philadelphia First Group and Beacon Capital; and Robert Levine, a former investment banker at Lehman Brothers and Legg Mason Wood Walker, co-founded the firm in 1995. Levine is now a senior adviser to the firm, while Warren and John Shoemaker, who joined the firm in 2002, are managing partners. In 2011, the firm brought in Ric Andersen, a former managing director at Silver Lake, as a partner focused on portfolio company management as well as sourcing new deals.