CORE Industrial Partners has held a final close of CORE Industrial Partners Fund II LP with total capital commitments of $465 million. Core’s new fund was oversubscribed with demand exceeding both its initial target of $400 million and its hard cap of $450 million.
Fund II was raised entirely virtually in less than four months and includes significant participation from the firm’s existing limited partners and a group of new institutional investors including university endowments, insurance companies, public pensions, corporate pensions, foundations, asset managers, family offices, and funds of funds.
Chicago-based CORE makes control investments in companies that have revenues up to $200 million, EBITDA up to $20 million, and enterprise values up to $150 million. Sectors of interest include a range of specialty verticals within the manufacturing, industrial technology, and industrial services sectors.
“We are incredibly humbled and grateful for the overwhelming support and continued partnership from our existing investors and the enthusiasm from a select group of new limited partners in Fund II,” said John May, the founder and managing partner of CORE. “We are excited to continue our disciplined strategy in Fund II by acquiring industrial businesses where we believe we can accelerate their growth and create long-term value for our investors, business owners and management teams.”
Recent platform activities for CORE include the October 2020 acquisition of J&K Ingredients, a New Jersey-based maker of mold inhibitors used in the baking industry, from privately held Sausville Foods. Mold inhibitors are used to enhance the taste, texture, aroma, consistency, and shelf life of food products. J&K’s ingredients include bread and roll bases, dough conditioners, milk replacers, flavors, emulsions and stabilizers that are sold to large bakery companies, commercial bakeries, and bakery product wholesalers and distributors.
In another October transaction, CORE sold Prototek, a New Hampshire-based provider of rapid prototyping services, to Snow Phipps. Prototek specializes in difficult and complex parts and has capabilities in both plastics and metals including steel, stainless steel, mirrored stainless, aluminum, and copper. The company’s customers are active in the aerospace, defense, medical, robotics, and telecommunications sectors. CORE acquired Prototek from the founding Isabelle family in December 2017.
Sixpoint Partners, which assisted CORE with raising its first fund, was engaged as CORE’s placement agent for the raising of Fund II. “The oversubscription and speed of raising CORE’s second fund, particularly in this challenged market environment, speaks to the differentiated, best-in-class platform CORE has built, and the conviction investors have in their team, strategy and execution,” said Larry Smith, a partner at Sixpoint.
New York City-headquartered Sixpoint is an advisor to the middle-market private equity industry with three areas of focus: primary fund placement and advisory; secondaries fund advisory; and co-investment placement across a range of industries, strategies, and geographies.
“We are proud to be partners with CORE, who have proven themselves to be a true leader in the lower middle market industrials space,” concluded Matt Thornton, a partner at Sixpoint.
CORE’s debut fund – CORE Industrial Partners Fund I LP – closed in February 2019 with total capital of $230 million. With the closing of Fund II, CORE now manages approximately $700 million of capital.
© 2021 Private Equity Professional | March 2, 2021