Enterprise Investors announces the closing of Polish Enterprise Fund VI, LP
London, September 15, 2006 — Enterprise Investors (EI), the largest private equity firm in Central and Eastern Europe, has announced the closing of its new fund, Polish Enterprise Fund VI (PEF VI). The total size of €658 million includes a 1.25% General Partner’s commitment. Demand from existing as well as new investors was strong, and the fund was two times oversubscribed. Returning LPs include AlpInvest, CalPERS, EIF, HarbourVest, LGT, MetLife, Partners Group and other internationally recognized financial institutions, while Adams Street Partners, Allianz Private Equity Partners, Bregal, HRJ Capital, Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, Pantheon, SUVA and Wilshire are among the new investors. European LPs account for 65% of the fund and US LPs have committed 35%.
Fundraising started in late May and closed in just three months. Enterprise Investors did not use a placement agent for the process. Polish Enterprise Fund VI is more than twice the size of its predecessor and the largest fund ever raised for Central and Eastern Europe. “We are extremely pleased to maintain the excellent relationships we have developed with our existing limited partners while continuing to attract new first-rank investors. The level of interest in the fund surpassed our expectations and allowed for an efficient fundraising process,” said Jacek Siwicki, managing partner of Enterprise Investors.
Polish Enterprise Fund VI will focus on mid-market leveraged buyouts and on transactions requiring expansion capital. The fund will target companies in established sectors where EI has considerable expertise – retail & consumer, manufacturing, business & financial services, media & telecoms, IT, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare.
“We will remain focused on buyouts valued between €30 million and €150 million and do not plan to significantly increase the average investment size beyond equity stakes of €30 million to €50 million. Our strength lies in our ability to build excellent relationships with entrepreneurs active in the region and with management teams interested in MBIs. As a result, most of our deal flow is proprietary and we can limit our participation in auctions, where it is harder to convince potential partners of our strengths and where price is the primary if not sole consideration,” Jacek Siwicki added.
Having established a successful track record in Poland, in 1999 EI extended its investment activity to other countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Like its predecessors, the new fund will focus on Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. In addition, PEF VI will be the first EI-managed fund to actively pursue investment opportunities in Ukraine and Croatia. Poland, however, will remain the core market for EI as well as for private equity in the region generally.
Enterprise Investors has a team of 30 investment professionals, including 12 partners, who operate from the firm’s offices in Warsaw, Bucharest and New York.
The previous fund managed by Enterprise Investors, the €300 million Polish Enterprise Fund V (PEF V) raised in early 2004, is almost fully invested. Two investments have already been exited, and the PEF V portfolio now numbers nine companies. The last two commitments were made very recently, and those deals will be funded before the end of 2006.
Enterprise Investors pioneered private equity in Poland following its inception in 1990, and has developed an outstanding investment track record over the past 16 years. With the closing of PEF VI, total funds raised by EI amount to €1.6 billion. To date, the five private equity funds managed by Enterprise Investors have invested €897 million in 102 companies across many sectors in Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.
Enterprise Investors has exited 85 companies, with total proceeds in excess of €1.1 billion. In 2005-06 alone, a string of successful exits generated approximately €376 million in proceeds for the firm.
Enterprise Investors was the first financial investor in Poland to take a company public in 1995 and has just completed its 24th IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Proceeds from public market exits constitute more than 40% of the firm’s total realizations.