Brightstar Capital Partners has closed its second fund, Brightstar Capital Partners Fund II LP, at its hard cap of just over $1.25 billion. Fund II had originally targeted $1.0 billion. In addition, Brightstar also raised a sidecar fund of $190 million to support co-investments alongside Fund II.
New York-based Brightstar was founded in July 2015 by CEO and Managing Partner Andrew Weinberg and makes control investments of $50 million to $250 million in closely held or family-owned middle-market companies.
Investors in Fund II include corporate and government-sponsored pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, endowments, foundations and insurance companies.
“It has been an extraordinary time in so many ways and we are truly grateful for the support we received from new and existing investors during a period of tremendous uncertainty,” said Mr. Weinberg. “We will continue to focus on our ‘Us and Us’ model of investing, proprietarily sourcing opportunities with families, founders, entrepreneurs and management teams, ensuring that our principles align and rolling up our sleeves to add value.”
Fund II has already invested in two companies with the buys of Brightstar Corp., a Miami-based provider of mobile device management services including supply chain, finance, insurance, finance, buy-back and trade-in, to carrier, retail and enterprise customers (October 2020); and Amerit Fleet Solutions, a Walnut Creek, California-based provider of fleet maintenance and repair services with more than 120,000 assets under contract, more than 1,800 technicians, and 800 locations nationwide (December 2020).
“As stewards of their capital, we appreciate the confidence our diverse base of investors has in the Brightstar team and our vision,” said Renee Noto, Brightstar’s Partner and President. “In addition to doubling our number of offices by adding locations in Nashville, Orange County and Palm Beach, we recently brought on 12 impressive new colleagues, bringing our total to more than 40 employees across the firm. Our entire team continues to perform admirably amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Since its founding, New York City-headquartered Brightstar has completed 22 transactions and its portfolio companies employ over 11,000 people with total annual revenue of over $6 billion.
Eaton Partners was the placement agent on this fundraise and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett provided legal services.
© 2021 Private Equity Professional | April 20, 2021
