Hazem Ben-Gacem
Investcorp Technology Partners (ITP), a leading European lower middle market technology investor, yesterday announced that it has successfully closed the transfer of its remaining two portfolio companies in ITP Fund III, with a combined enterprise value of $185m, to a continuation vehicle, Investcorp Secondary Fund 2018 LP which is supported by HarbourVest.
By concluding this transaction, ITP will have the opportunity to maximise the value creation potential of these two companies, providing them with active support and fresh capital over an additional holding period under continued management. The transaction, which was supported by investors, results in ITP Fund III’s performance since inception being in the upper quartile for similar vintage and type of funds.
Investcorp, which has its office across the globe, including in Doha, is a leading global manager of alternative investments. The firm continues to focus on generating value through a disciplined investment approach in four lines of business: private equity, real estate, absolute return investments and credit management.
Investcorp Technology Partners is focused on investing in fast-growing founder-owned, European headquartered businesses with equity cheques of $25-$50m. The group has established a market leading position of investing in lower mid-market technology companies with a specific focus on the Data / Analytics, IT Security, Fintech/Payments and Internet/Mobility sectors. Investcorp has raised over $1.5bn in funding for lower middle market technology investments since 2001.
Commenting on the commitment, Hazem Ben-Gacem (pictured), Investcorp’s Co-Chief Executive Officer and a Managing Partner of the Investcorp Technology Partners group of funds, said, “Our third technology fund has performed very well in recent years. This commitment from HarbourVest demonstrates their belief in us as one of the leading lower mid-market investors in Europe. We look forward to working with them to help realise further growth in these remaining investments whilst continuing to deliver a strong return for our investors and shareholders.”
“Investcorp Technology Partners is a talented manager and we are excited to partner with them on this new venture. We believe there is significant potential for outperformance in European middle-market technology investing. We look forward to combining HarbourVest’s long track record of completing whole fund liquidity solutions with Investcorp’s expertise to achieve the next phase of growth in technology companies,” said Greg Ciesielski, Principal at HarbourVest Partners.
ITP recently announced the close of its fourth Technology Fund, ITP Fund IV, L.P. (ITP Fund IV), a $400m pool which closed in excess of its target and received strong support from a diverse group of global blue-chip institutional investors.
ITP Fund IV has already completed five investments including softgarden, a Human Resources software provider; Calligo, a proprietary cloud solution company; Ageras, an online marketplace matching SMEs with professional service providers; Impero, a provider of online student safety and classroom and network management software; and SmartSpace an enterprise software and sensor platform.
