Waterland Private Equity Investments (“Waterland”) is pleased to announce the closing of its ninth institutional flagship fund, Waterland Private Equity Fund IX (“WPEF IX”) at € 3.5 billion, alongside Waterland Partnership Fund I (“WPF I”) at € 500 million. The funds closed at their respective hard caps four months after initial launch.
The fundraise attracted commitments from world-class institutional investors globally. The investor base for both funds is well diversified by geography, consisting of investors across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. By investor type it consists of asset managers, public and private pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations and family offices, amongst others.
Both funds were oversubscribed with demand significantly exceeding the fundraising targets. This is attributable to continued strong support from existing investors combined with significant interest from new investors.
WPEF IX expects to make investments in medium-sized companies in fragmented growth markets in Europe to finance organic and acquisitive growth. This is a continuation of the successful buy-and-build investment strategy applied to the firm’s prior funds over the last two decades. WPF I is a natural extension of the Waterland platform. WPF I expects to make minority investments in a very select number of Waterland portfolio companies when these are exited.
“The fundraisings for WPEF IX and WPF I have been a great success in a challenging fundraising market. It is a significant achievement for us to have closed both funds in just four months. We remain thankful for the strong support of our existing and new investors and their confidence in our team and strategy. We look forward to making investments with both funds and continue to see many attractive opportunities in our target region despite the volatile macro environment.” said Frank Vlayen, Group Managing Partner.
“We are grateful and humbled by this strong vote of confidence by our investors. We are looking forward to partnering closely with ambitious management teams across Europe to jointly execute buy-and-build programs. We will also continue to invest in our own firm to further strengthen our position as a leading local buy-and-build investor in Europe across our integrated network of 13 European offices.” said Cedric Van Cauwenberghe, incoming Group Managing Partner. As previously announced, Cedric Van Cauwenberghe will succeed Frank Vlayen as new Group Managing Partner of the firm later this year.
Marc Lutgen, Head of Investor Relations, said: “We are grateful for the strong support from existing and new LPs for this dual fundraise, despite the challenges faced by many investors in the past year. We look forward to a fruitful partnership as we strive to continue to deliver exceptional returns for our investors.”
Evercore Private Funds Group acted as the global strategic fundraising adviser for Waterland. Kirkland & Ellis International LLP acted as the global legal, tax and regulatory counsel. De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek N.V. acted as Dutch legal and regulatory counsel. Matheson LLP acted as Irish legal, tax and regulatory counsel.
About Waterland
Waterland is an independent European private equity investment group that supports entrepreneurs in realizing their growth ambitions. Waterland currently manages over € 14 billion of investor commitments and has made over 950 acquisitions, including over 150 platform investments and over 800 add-ons. Since its founding in 1999, Waterland has grown to more than 170 professionals operating across 13 offices in 11 countries. Waterland is a licensed Alternative Investment Fund Manager only offering interests to professional investors and is under the supervision of the Dutch Financial Services Authority (AFM).
For further information please contact:
Marc Lutgen, Head of Investor Relations, Waterland, lutgen@waterland.nu
