Leeds Equity has held a final and above hard cap close of Leeds Equity Partners VII LP with just over $1.4 billion of capital commitments.
Leeds VII had an initial target of $1 billion, which was increased with the support of limited partners over its hard cap to accommodate investor demand. The new fund’s capital is comprised of $1.33 billion from limited partners and $80 million from the general partner. Leeds’ earlier fund, Leeds Equity Partners VI LP, closed above its target of $750 million in June 2018.
New York City-based Leeds Equity was founded by Jeffrey Leeds and Robert Bernstein in 1993 and has now raised more than $4 billion across its seven funds.
“We are grateful for the extraordinary partnership we enjoy with our investors,” said Mr. Leeds, “and of course for their support for our latest fund. Virtually all Leeds VI investors committed to Leeds VII, and we are delighted to welcome new limited partners from the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and MENA. Our investors are, in fact, our partners, and we look forward to continuing to work together as we deploy Leeds VII.”
“The successful fundraise for Leeds VII is a result of the commitment the firm maintains to partnering with the highest quality companies and management teams and our shared mission to deliver best-in-class outcomes,” said Jacques Galante, a partner at Leeds Equity. “As we invest our latest fund, we will continue to work to develop even greater sector expertise and to collaboratively deploy all of our resources to help build value.”
Leeds Equity invests in the education, training and information services industries. To date, Leeds VII has invested in four companies, representing 25% of its capital.
The four companies include OptionMetrics, a New York City-based provider of options and futures databases and analytics to institutional investors and academic researchers (April 2021); Engage2learn, a Texas-based provider of professional development coaching services and technology to public school districts (May 2021); Archive360, a New York City-based provider of digital information management and archiving services to support regulatory, legal, security and business intelligence requirements (September 2021); and Genius SIS, a Florida-based provider of student information system (SIS) software and training management system (TMS) software for online learning and virtual classrooms (September 2021).
“We are especially thankful to our current and former portfolio management team members who have driven great outcomes throughout the history of Leeds Equity by maintaining an unwavering focus on efficacy and impact,” said Scott VanHoy, a partner at Leeds Equity. “In addition to their hard work on behalf of our partnerships, we are delighted to welcome many of them as investors in Leeds VII.”
UBS was the placement agent for Leeds VII and Kirkland & Ellis provided legal services.
© 2021 Private Equity Professional | November 2, 2021
