Advent International has held a final and hard cap closing of Advent Global Technology LP (Advent Tech) with $2 billion of committed capital. The new fund had an original target of $1.6 billion and closed after just six months of fundraising.
Advent Tech follows the June 2019 final close of Advent International GPE IX LP (GPE IX) at its hard cap of $17.5 billion. Advent’s earlier fund, GPE VIII, closed at its hard cap of $13 billion in March 2016. With the raising of Advent Tech, the firm has opened an office in Palo Alto and expanded its technology investment team by more than 50% in recent months with the addition of seven professionals, including Managing Partner Bryan Taylor who joined Advent in February 2019. Mr. Taylor previously was a partner and co-head of TPG Capital’s technology group, where he jointly led its 20-person team that invested in software, data analytics and technology services. Led by Mr. Taylor, Advent’s technology team now has 20 professionals – located in Palo Alto, New York and London – with another 5 professionals expected to join the team over the next year.
Advent began as a technology-focused venture capital investor in 1984 and began its private equity strategy in 1990. To date, the firm has invested in technology companies with more than $14 billion in combined enterprise value. “Advent has a long history of technology investing, and the new fund, office and expanded team represent a deepening of our commitment to the sector,” said Mr. Taylor. “Technology is increasingly important to all industry segments, and we are excited about the benefits these developments will bring to our firm across sectors and around the globe.”
Advent Tech will invest in 10 to 20 North America and European-based companies that are active in the software and technology-enabled services industries. Other sectors of interest include cybersecurity, education, and IT infrastructure. Transaction types include control buyouts, minority growth equity investments, public-to-private transactions, and corporate carve-outs. The fund can make smaller investments, as low as $50 million of equity, in disruptive, high-growth emerging businesses, and can also co-invest with GPE IX in mid-sized to large technology companies. In combination, the two funds can deploy up to $2 billion or more in a single transaction. Typical target investments will have enterprise values of between $150 million and $5 billion.
“Our new dedicated technology fund, combined with the scale and multisector expertise of our GPE program, allows Advent to invest broadly across the technology landscape – from smaller growth equity transactions to larger tech buyouts,” said David Mussafer, a Boston-based managing partner of Advent. “This flexibility is vital in the technology sector, as relationships, intellectual capital and opportunities scale up and down company size.”
Advent Tech has already invested in two companies alongside GPE IX: Definitive Healthcare, a Framingham, MA-based provider of data and analytic services to hospitals and physicians (June 2019); and Transaction Services Group, a London-headquartered provider of business management software and payment services to health-and-fitness clubs and child-care centers (June 2019).
Advent International invests in companies active in business and financial services; healthcare; industrial; retail, consumer and leisure; and technology, media and telecom. The firm has 15 offices in 12 countries and employs 195 investment professionals across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Boston, Advent has $54 billion in assets under management and has completed more than 345 private equity transactions (www.adventinternational.com).
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | September 18, 2019