Pomona Capital targets $1.75 bln for ninth secondary fund

Pomona Capital is keeping its latest secondary pool at a comparable size as it hits the fundraising trail with a $1.75 billion target for Pomona Capital IX LP, a filing and a source said.

The firm held a final close on Pomona Capital VIII in 2014 with $1.75 billion in commitments, its hard cap. The fund’s initial target was $1.3 billion.

An early player in the secondary market, Pomona buys interests in private equity funds and portfolios of PE-backed companies. A spokeswoman declined comment.

The fundraising comes as LPs pour money into secondary funds. Through 2016’s first nine months, 15 secondary funds raised $19 billion in capital, beating the comparable-period record $17 billion in 2014, according to Preqin.

The vintage 2008 Pomona Capital VII generated an IRR of 8.6 percent as of Dec. 31, 2015, for State of Wisconsin Investment Board, pension-fund data compiled by Buyouts shows.

The 2005 vintage Fund VI yielded an IRR of 1.3 percent as of that date for Florida State Board of Administration. The vintage 2002 Fund V produced an IRR of 12.5 percent for University of Texas Investment Management Co.

Bulking up in the face of its own fundraising, Pomona hired at least two executives in 2016 and made some key promotions.

David Herbers, vice president-U.S., joined the firm from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, where as a vice president he managed capital structures and leverage facilities. Shahan Aziz joined Pomona as an associate in its London office; he’d been an investment-banking analyst at Morgan Stanley.

In March, Pomona promoted Sebastien Bowen and Ryan Levitt to partner, bringing its total number of partners to eight.

Also on the personnel front, Doug Kelly, a former Pomona Capital partner, left in 2015 and joined Farol Asset Management, his LinkedIn profile shows.

Founded in 1994 by Michael Granoff, Pomona Capital raised its first fund with $42 million in commitments after Granoff teamed up with Fran Janis. Steve Futrell joined the firm in 1995 as chief financial officer. All three executives remain at the firm.

Pomona Capital manages about $8.1 billion, with more than 350 global investors, 600 GP relationships and 40 professionals.

In 2015, Pomona debuted Pomona Investment Fund, which offers accredited investors access to PE with a minimum $25,000 investment. Voya Investments Distributor is the distributor.

Pomona Investment Fund disclosed $55 million in shareholder capital as of June 30, including $20 million in a money-market fund and about $36 million in PE funds, a filing shows. The fund’s largest holding is a $5.2 million stake in Bain Capital Fund X, followed by about $3.4 million in Insight Venture Partners VIII LP.

Action Item: Contact Pomona Capital: http://www.pomonacapital.com/contact

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