Providence Strategic Growth Capital LP – an affiliate of long time private equity investor Providence Equity Partners – has closed its first fund with $315 million of equity commitments.
The new fund was oversubscribed, exceeded its target of $250 million, and hit its hard cap. As expected, the fund received commitments from many existing and new Providence investors, including corporate pensions, family offices and high net worth individuals.
The strategy of Providence Strategic Growth Capital (PSG) is to make investments in lower middle market technology-enabled service companies that are based in North America. The new fund is led by managing director Mark Hastings. Prior to joining Providence in November 2013, Mr. Hastings served as managing partner and founder of Garvin Hill Capital Partners beginning in 2009 and previously led CIBC’s technology focused growth equity team from 2002 to 2009. Other members of the PSG investment team include Alexis Egan, Managing Director; Marco Ferrari, Principal; and John Marquis, Associate. Senior advisors to PSG include Sanjeev Dheer, Brian Napack and Kevin Watson.
“As technology continues to disrupt large segments of the economy, traditional industries are being reshaped by new services that are smarter, faster and cheaper,” said Mr. Hastings. “With the strong support of our limited partners, we are pleased to have been able to raise a fund that we believe is well positioned to capitalize on attractive opportunities to invest growth equity in technology-enabled service companies that will lead this disruption in the years to come.”
“PSG is a natural extension of our platform and expertise that will enable a dedicated team to make earlier stage investments,” said Jonathan Nelson, Chief Executive Officer of Providence. “We appreciate the confidence our investors have placed in PSG as Mark and his team focus on delivering superior returns through a disciplined and distinctive approach to growth equity investing.”
PSG has already made four portfolio investments. The most recent closed late last month with the acquisition of Burning Glass Technologies, a provider of job market analytics to education institutions, government workforce agencies, academic research centers, global recruitment and staffing agencies, major employers and job boards. Burning Glass was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Boston (www.burning-glass.com).
“With its big-data approach to analyzing the job market and its powerful application set that connects people with jobs and learning with careers, Burning Glass fits squarely into our investment theses in both education and information services.” said Mr. Ferrari. “Burning Glass is a transformative company that is well situated for robust growth.”
Providence Equity Partners invests in the media, entertainment, communications and information industries and has approximately $40 billion of capital under management. The firm was founded in 1989 and is based in Providence with additional offices in New York, London, New Delhi, Hong Kong, and Singapore (www.provequity.com).
© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 7-13-15