Kohlberg Closes Fund IX
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Kohlberg Closes Fund IX

Middle-market investor Kohlberg & Company has closed its ninth private equity fund, Kohlberg Investors IX LP, with $3.4 billion in total capital commitments.

Limited partners in Kohlberg’s ninth fund (Fund IX) include public pension funds, financial institutions, endowments, family offices, corporate pensions, sovereign wealth funds and funds of funds, with commitments coming from investors in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

According to Kohlberg, an overwhelming majority of investors from its eighth fund increased their commitment for Fund IX.

“We are grateful to our longtime investors for their continued support and are pleased to welcome an august group of new investors into the Kohlberg community,” said Sam Frieder, the managing partner at Kohlberg. “We are humbled and gratified by the enthusiasm expressed towards the firm as experienced stewards of capital and view that responsibility as a privilege and an honor.”

“Kohlberg is delighted to have received such strong support from our existing limited partners and to have been able to secure commitments from several new investors, many through entirely virtual diligence,” said Shant Mardirossian, the chief operating officer of Kohlberg. “It was certainly an unprecedented period to be raising capital, and against that backdrop our proven track record of success, coupled with our over 30 years of experience in the middle market, especially resonated in our marketing efforts for Fund IX.”

Kohlberg invests in companies in the industrial manufacturing; consumer products; business services; healthcare services; and financial services sectors. The firm concentrates on companies with EBITDA between $20 million and $100 million where it can invest between $50 million and $200 million of equity.

In December 2020, Kohlberg acquired Area Wide Protective, an Ohio-based provider of temporary traffic control and safety services to electric and gas utilities, from The Riverside Company; and in October 2020, the firm acquired Parts Authority, a Long Island-based distributor of automotive aftermarket parts, from The Jordan Company.

“Our firm looks forward to continuing to leverage its differentiated core practice area expertise and thesis-driven white paper investment strategy into being the partner of choice for sellers and management teams,” said Gordon Woodward, a partner and chief investment officer at Kohlberg. “We are excited by the opportunity to construct a portfolio poised to build on our consistent track record of business transformation and value creation.”

Kohlberg, founded in 1987, has more than 60 investment and portfolio support professionals and is based north of New York City in Mt. Kisco, New York. In March 2018, Blackstone acquired a minority equity interest in the firm.

Lazard was the placement agent on this fundraise and Ropes & Gray provided legal services.

© 2021 Private Equity Professional | February 3, 2021

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