Thomas H. Lee Partners has held a final close of its ninth flagship fund, Thomas H. Lee Equity Fund IX LP, at its hard cap with $5.6 billion in capital commitments.
Limited partners in Fund IX include new and existing public and private pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, banks, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals. Fund IX includes a commitment of more than $250 million from its general partner.
“We greatly appreciate our limited partners’ strong support and confidence in our ability to identify and execute on attractive opportunities in our areas of focus that can grow through market and business cycles,” said Scott Sperling, a co-CEO of THL. “The overwhelming investor demand for Fund IX is a testament to our talented investment and operational teams and reflects a shared conviction in the middle-market growth opportunities across our sector interests.”
THL was founded in 1974 and is one of the oldest private equity investment firms in the United States. Industries of interest include financial services, healthcare, and technology & business solutions.
Fund IX has already committed $935 million, or 17% of total committed capital, in four companies: the semiconductor business of Brooks (NASDAQ: BRKS), a Massachusetts-based maker of semiconductor manufacturing equipment for $3 billion (announced in September 2021 and expected to close in early 2022); Odessa, a Pennsylvania-based provider of software used in asset finance applications (September 2021); House of Design, an Idaho-based provider of robotic automation systems used in the residential construction market (September 2021); and Bazaarvoice, a Texas-based e-commerce software provider specializing in product reviews, customer ratings, and user-generated content (March 2021).
Since its founding in 1974, Boston-based THL has raised over $30 billion of equity capital, acquired over 160 portfolio companies, and completed over 500 add-on acquisitions.
“The successful fundraise speaks to the strength of our value creation capabilities and domain expertise, which allow us to move with speed and certainty to support our portfolio companies through their next stage of growth,” said Todd Abbrecht, a co-CEO of THL. “Particularly over the last decade, we have heavily invested in our firm to develop a roster of industry-leading talent, allowing us to work at a level of depth that can truly impact operating company performance. By developing a deep industry knowledge in our ISOs (identified sector opportunities), we are able to identify the best opportunities and deliver unique value from day one.”
The close of Fund IX follows the close of THL’s $900 million automation-focused private equity fund in November 2020.
© 2021 Private Equity Professional | October 5, 2021
