Summit Partners adjusts leadership team ahead of fundraise

Summit has been talking to potential limited partners about launching Summit Partners Fund IX, along with its fourth “venture capital” fund targeting $600 million, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation. Summit’s venture fund targets smaller growth investments than its flagship vehicle does.

Private placement memoranda for the flagship fund have not yet gone out, one of the sources said.

Summit will have a different senior leadership organization as it moves forward. It is moving to a single CEO structure and away from the executive committee type leadership organization it had in the past, according to one of the sources.

Peter Chung, a managing director who joined in 1994, was promoted to CEO, the source said. 

Martin Mannion, who has been with the firm since 1985, is chief investment officer, while Joseph Trustey, who joined in 1992, is chief operating officer, the source said.

The new titles for Chung, Mannion and Trustey are shown on Summit’s website, but it is unclear when the changes were made. A cached version of Summit’s website shows that the changes were not in effect as of August 2014.

Summit’s last fundraising effort was more than three years ago. It announced in January 2012 that it had closed on a combined $3.2 billion for Summit Partners Growth Equity Fund VIII ($2.7 billion) and Summit Partners Venture Capital Fund III ($520 million). 

As of Sept. 30, Fund VIII generated a 13.68 percent IRR and a 1.10x multiple, while Summit’s third venture capital fund produced a 4.02 percent IRR and a 1.04x multiple, according to alternative asset data provider Bison.

Summit was formed in 1984 and has raised around $15 billion across various funds. Along with growth equity and venture capital funds, Summit also raises debt funds.

A spokeswoman for the firm did not return a request for comment.