LOS ANGELES and LONDON, July 14, 2016 – Marlin Equity Partners, a global investment firm, is pleased to announce the first and final closing of Marlin Heritage Europe, L.P., with €325 million of total capital commitments. The Heritage Europe Fund was exclusively offered to existing investors in Marlin’s lower middle market focused Heritage Fund platform and closed at its hard cap in just over two months while generating demand well in excess of its initial €200 million target.
The Heritage Europe Fund is a natural progression for Marlin following the firm’s long history of investing in European businesses since 2006 and the establishment of a local European presence in January 2013, with the opening of its London office. The Heritage Europe Fund will employ the same investment philosophy and operationally-focused strategy that have been the cornerstone of Marlin’s success and will target investments in the lower middle market, generally in companies located across Europe. Consistent with Marlin’s prior funds, the Heritage Europe Fund will seek to invest in businesses that can benefit from the firm’s significant capital base, deep industry relationships and substantial network of operational resources. It will continue to focus on industries where Marlin has developed extensive domain expertise, including technology, business services, healthcare, consumer and manufacturing, among others.
“The formation of the Heritage Europe Fund is primarily driven by our strong deal flow and the attractive investment opportunities we are seeing throughout Europe,” said David McGovern, Managing Partner of Marlin. “We are thankful for the strong support we received from our existing Heritage Fund limited partners. Our ability to raise the Heritage Europe Fund in just over two months further validates our growing reputation and brand recognition as a leading player in the European private equity market. Our success is a result of our long history of investing in European businesses, global capabilities, quality of team and differentiated operationally-focused investment strategy across our targeted sectors.”
Peter Spasov, Partner of Marlin, added, “The Heritage Europe Fund offers a compelling opportunity to continue investing across the European middle market, which we believe is underserved by private equity. There are significant cross-border consolidation and growth opportunities to capture throughout Europe, and our ability to leverage the Marlin platform and operational resources positions us well to identify and build successful global businesses.”
Marlin has closed six private equity funds since its inception in 2005 and has more than $3 billion of capital under management. The closing of the Heritage Europe Fund follows an active period for Marlin. Since the beginning of 2015, Marlin has acquired 23 businesses, including 11 corporate divestitures.
Bruce Ettelson, Karin Orsic and Katie St. Peters of Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel and Credit Suisse Securities (USA), LLC acted as an advisor and placement agent in the formation of the Heritage Europe Fund.
About Marlin Equity Partners
Marlin Equity Partners is a global investment firm with over $3 billion of capital under management. The firm is focused on providing corporate parents, shareholders and other stakeholders with tailored solutions that meet their business and liquidity needs. Marlin invests in businesses across multiple industries where its capital base, industry relationships and extensive network of operational resources significantly strengthens a company’s outlook and enhances value. Since its inception, Marlin, through its group of funds and related companies, has successfully completed over 100 acquisitions. The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles, California with an additional office in London. For more information, please visit www.marlinequity.com.
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