Middle-market investor Comvest Partners has held a final close of its fifth private equity fund, Comvest Investment Partners V (Fund V), with $893 million in total capital commitments.
The capital commitments consist of $850 million from limited partners at the hard cap, plus a commitment of $43 million from the general partner and various affiliates. Fund V follows Comvest Investment Partners IV which closed in 2010 with $582 million in capital commitments.
In raising the new fund, Comvest saw strong investor interest from returning and new limited partners and was able to close the fund well above the $700 million original target. Limited partners include the usual cast of characters including pension funds, endowments, insurance companies, fund of funds, and family offices.
As with earlier funds, Fund V will make control equity investments in mature and growing middle-market companies that can benefit from Comvest’s capital base and operationally focused approach to investing. Fund V will invest from $25 million to $100 million of equity per transaction in industries where Comvest has expertise, including healthcare services, industrials, consumer and retail, and transportation and logistics.
“Over the last decade, Comvest has invested heavily in all areas of the firm, and continues to do so. We are appreciative of the support and confidence we have received from both our existing and new investors. We are firmly committed to executing on our strategy and serving our investors, management teams, operating partners, and employees,” said Michael Falk, Comvest’s Founder and Managing Partner.
Fund V has already made its first investment with the acquisition of McKesson Corporation’s Care Management business, which was renamed AxisPoint Health upon closing in June 2015. Mosaic Health Solutions co-invested with Comvest on this transaction. AxisPoint Health is a provider of complex and chronic case management services, nurse advisory services, and a care management software platform used by payers to manage utilization, disease, and case management services in-house. AxisPoint is headquartered north of Denver in Westminster, CO (www.axispointhealth.com).
The close of the Fund V comes at an exciting time in Comvest’s growth as a firm. In June, Comvest’s direct lending strategy closed on its third fund — Comvest Capital III — also well above its initial target with $450 million in capital commitments, later adding a $100 million committed revolving credit facility from Goldman Sachs. In August 2015, Comvest announced the opening of an office in Chicago to further increase origination capabilities for both the direct lending and private equity strategies. The Chicago office is led by Greg Reynolds, Managing Director; Jon Huitink, Principal; and Tim Kim, Associate.
Comvest Partners provides debt and equity to middle-market companies. For debt investments the firm will invest from $2 million to $20 million per transaction in companies with $10 million to $200 million of revenue that have positive or negative EBITDA. For equity investments the firm will invest from $25 million to $100 million of equity per transaction in companies with $15 million to $500 million of revenue that have positive or negative EBITDA. Since 2000, Comvest has invested more than $2 billion of capital in over 140 public and private companies. The firm is based in West Palm Beach (www.comvest.com).
Kirkland & Ellis (www.kirkland.com) served as legal advisor to Comvest Partners. The Kirkland team was led by private funds partners Chris Kallos and Nicholas DiCrescenzo and included private funds associates Brian Kolva and Jonathan McPike; investment management partners Scott Moehrke and Michael Chu; tax partners Daniel Meehan and Donald Rocap; ERISA partner Laura Bader and associate Jacob Glazeski; and EU regulatory partner Lisa Cawley and associate Prem Mohan.
© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 10-14-15