Coral Tree Management has held a final, above target closing of its first fund, Coral Tree Partners LP, with $470 million of capital. The new fund was oversubscribed and closed above its $350 million target and above its original hard cap.
Los Angeles-headquartered Coral Tree was founded by Will Wynperle and Alan Resnikoff and invests in lower middle-market buyouts and late-stage growth equity investments in the media, entertainment, communications, and marketing services sectors.
Mr. Wynperle and Mr. Resnikoff were previously long-time partners at Shamrock Capital Advisors. They left the firm in early 2020 and launched Coral Tree in early 2021. Other members of the Coral Tree team include Mike DiLorenzo, Matt Greenzang, and Jake Simons who have all previously worked with Mr. Wynperle and Mr. Resnikoff.
Coral Tree’s inaugural fund, was backed by several institutional investors, including endowments, foundations, insurance companies, pension plans, institutional family offices, and funds-of-funds.
“Our investment experience in our sectors combined with our lower middle market focus differentiates us in the market,” said Mr. Wynperle. “Our investors appreciate our strategy and value add approach, and we are fortunate to have them as long-term partners of Coral Tree.”
Coral Tree’s new fund has already closed investments in Loaded, a Santa Monica, California-based talent management and marketing firm that is active in the gaming influencer sector (April 2022); and Subject Matter, a Washington DC-based strategic communications, content, advertising, and government relations firm (February 2022).
Credit Suisse was the placement agent to Coral Tree for this fundraise and Simpson Thacher provided legal services.
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