Finance giant raises £1bn in double fundraise

Carl Wormald

Inflexion Private Equity Partners has announced the successful final close of Inflexion Enterprise Fund V and Inflexion Supplemental Fund V, securing commitments at their hard cap of £400m and £600m, respectively.

Raised exclusively from Inflexion’s existing LP base of blue-chip investors from across Europe, the US and Asia, both Funds were oversubscribed and closed at their respective hard caps in under 10 weeks.

In the past 12 months  Inflexion has made three investments in North West businesses, including UK Fast, Granite Underwriting and Huws Gray.  Inflexion’s portfolio now includes eight ambitious companies.

The investors committing to both funds comprise leading institutional investors, including state and corporate pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds.

In keeping with previous fundraisings, Inflexion closed both funds on schedule and without the support of a placement agent.

Inflexion Enterprise Fund V is focused on the UK lower mid-market.

The fund follows the same successful strategy employed by Inflexion for more than 20 years, backing high growth, entrepreneurial businesses with ambitious management teams and working in partnership with them to accelerate growth.

Enterprise Fund V will make investments of £10m to £35m, taking both majority and minority stakes, in established businesses. Both funds will invest across all sectors and each investee company will have access to Inflexion’s extensive resources spanning digital enhancement, international expansion, acquisition support, operational improvement and talent management.

Inflexion Supplemental Fund V will invest primarily alongside Inflexion Buyout Fund V, a £1.25bn fund, and Inflexion Partnership Capital Fund II, a £1bn fund, the pools of capital Inflexion raised concurrently in 2018.

As with Inflexion’s previous supplemental funds, Supplemental Fund V will support the firm on larger investments.

As with the funds raised in 2018, the Inflexion Foundation will receive distributions equal to 1% of the funds’ profits.

The Inflexion Foundation primarily supports organisations that improve the prospects of disadvantaged young people.

Simon Turner, Inflexion managing partner, said: “We greatly appreciate the strong ongoing support of our existing investors to these funds.

“This is a clear demonstration of the continued investor appetite for private equity investing in the UK and beyond. Our family of funds give us unparalleled flexibility in the mid-market to offer tailored equity investments from £10m to £250m for majority or minority stakes.”

He added: “We are delighted that we can continue to back the widest possible range of high growth, entrepreneurial businesses combined with genuine support for ambitious management teams.”

Carl Wormald, partner with responsibility for Inflexion’s Manchester office, said: “We identified Manchester and the North West as a hotbed of entrepreneurial talent over 15 years ago, and since then have invested significantly in the region and built up a sizeable network.

“This has proved invaluable in helping us to connect with ambitious teams and then support them to grow both across the UK and internationally with the help of our four international offices, our digital team and our two decades’ experience in M&A.

“We look forward to continuing to partner with local businesses in this dynamic market and plan to invest further in our local team in order to maximise the opportunity the local market presents.”

Inflexion managing partners Simon Turner, left, and John Hartz

The closing of the funds follows an active 12 months for Inflexion in which the firm invested close to £500m in 11 businesses, as well as supporting more than 45 add-on acquisitions for its portfolio companies.

Inflexion also successfully exited three businesses with a combined enterprise value of more than £800m. Inflexion currently has a portfolio of 42 companies, reaching 150 countries and employing more than 20,000 people.

In 2018, Inflexion retained a leading position in Preqin’s annual global league for consistently top performing buyout funds. Inflexion is the only UK fund to be ranked in the top 10.

The firm has also won a number of industry accolades for its success in growing the businesses it backs. Most recently, Inflexion was awarded the UK House of the Year and the Grand Prix House of the Year at the 2019 Private Equity Awards.

Close