ECI Partners raises £700m for its 11th growth fund
ECI Partners, which has offices in Manchester and London, has closed its 11th buyout fund, ECI 11, raising £700m.
It launched the fundraise in mid-April with a target fund size of £650m and closed at the hard cap of £700m less than three months later.
ECI owns Wilmslow-based Citation (business services business for SMEs), Macclesfield-based MPM (which provides gourmet pet food), and, until recently, Knowsley-based Clarke Energy (power distribution specialist), which was sold to Kohler Co’s Power in February 2017.
ECI 11 is 40% larger than its predecessor fund ECI 10, and was over-subscribed with a reup rate of around 80% from existing investors.
There are a total of 25 institutional investors in the fund, including leading pension funds, insurance companies, fund of funds, endowments, and family offices from across the UK, US, Europe and Asia.
ECI managing partner David Ewing said: “We look forward to investing in high growth UK businesses, helping them to expand and create jobs and wealth.
“We’ve been doing this successfuly for 42 years now and the ECI 11 fundraise confirms our commitment to consistent investing in the UK’s exciting mid-market, a key driver for Britain’s economy.
“We would like to thank our existing and new investors for their fantastic support.
“We are delighted that most of the capital raised for ECI 11 came from existing investors, some of whom have continuously invested with us for more than two decades now.
“We also welcome several new investors, where we look forward to developing long-term relationships.”
Founded as Equity Capital for Industry in 1976, ECI has now raised £2.4bn of external capital and is one of the UK’s longest-established private equity partnerships.
This close makes ECI the first private equity firm investing in UK-headquartered companies to raise an 11th buyout fund focused on the same strategy.
ECI 11 is a successor fund to ECI 10, a £500m fund which started investing in October 2014, and will seek to employ the same investment strategy focused on growth buyouts in companies with an enterprise value of between £20m to £150m.
ECI 11 will continue helping high growth businesses expand into new markets, complete acquisitions, and drive organic revenue through a combination of digital marketing, sales expertise and investing in people and technology.
ECI’s team of 28 investment professionals will actively support growth using the expertise and experience of its dedicated original, commercial and investment teams.
