Warren Equity has held an above target, hard cap, and oversubscribed final closing of its latest fund, Warren Equity Partners Fund IV LP and Warren Equity Partners Fund IV-A LP (together WEP IV), with more than $1.4 billion in capital.
Limited partners in WEP IV include both new and returning pension funds, insurance companies, endowments and foundations, fund of funds, and family offices.
Warren Equity was founded in mid-2015 by Steven Wacaster, Scott Bruckmann, and Henrik Dahlback and is headquartered in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.
“Despite the challenging fundraising market, we had tremendous interest in WEP IV, which we believe was driven by the quality of our team, our performance in prior funds, the attractiveness of our investment strategy, as well as continued support from our long-time limited partners,” said Mr. Wacaster. “We have invested significantly in our team and remain excited about continuing to build strong partnerships with market-leading companies in our core sectors. Our team will work hard to continue to execute for our investors and employees at both our firm and portfolio companies.”
Warren Equity invests from $5 million to $40 million in North American-based companies that have from $3 million to $15 million of EBITDA and total enterprise value of less than $150 million. Sectors of interest include industrial, infrastructure, and business services.
Warren’s new fund has already completed four platform investments. In September 2022, the firm purchased Code Red Safety, a provider of safety products and services to the petrochemical, refining, manufacturing, utility, and construction sectors, based in Texas. In October 2022, the firm acquired kV Power, a Texas-based provider of electrical utility grid and infrastructure maintenance services. The third platform was acquired in November 2022 with the purchase of Traffic Management Solutions, a Florida-based provider of integration services for intelligent traffic systems, including lighting, electronic tolling equipment, CCTV camera systems, and electronic signboards.
In February 2023, Fund IV made its fourth investment with the acquisition of Ovation Holdings, an Iowa-based distributor and MRO service provider to the flow control and instrumentation sectors.
“We are thankful for our limited partners, including many returning investors and select new investors, for their strong support,” said Mr. Bruckmann. “Each of the first four investments of WEP IV were identified as part of our thematic research, through which we take a long-term view of underlying trends in our sectors. We will continue to exercise discipline with our distinct sector focus and seek to improve our portfolio companies with our unique operating system to drive value creation.”
Warren’s earlier fund, Warren Equity Partners Fund III LP, closed at its hard cap with $673 million of capital in May 2021. Since its founding in 2015, Warren has now raised over $3.3 billion in capital and closed 99 transactions, including the acquisition of 26 platform companies.
Aqueduct Capital Group was the placement agent for this fundraise and Kirkland & Ellis provided legal services.
© 2023 Private Equity Professional | April 19, 2023
