CenterOak Partners has held a final, oversubscribed, and hard cap close CenterOak Equity Fund III LP with $1.1 billion of capital.
Limited partners in Fund III were primarily existing institutional investors but included many new private and public pensions, endowments, and foundations.
CenterOak’s second fund, CenterOak Equity Fund II LP, closed at its $690 million hard cap in April 2021. The firm’s first fund closed in 2016 at its hard cap with $420 million of capital.
“We appreciate the strong support from our limited partners, who allowed us to complete the fundraising in a short period of time,” said Randall Fojtasek, the chief executive officer and co-managing partner of CenterOak. “The successful close of Fund III validates our active, clearly defined investment process and our team’s strategic focus on creating value for our investors and management teams.”
Dallas-headquartered CenterOak makes equity investments of $20 million to $150 million in companies with enterprise values of $50 million to $500 million and EBITDA of $5 million to $35 million. Sectors of interest include industrial manufacturing and distribution, business services, and consumer products and services.
A recent exit for CenterOak was the February 2024 sale of SurfacePrep to Nautic Partners. CenterOak originally formed SurfacePrep in May 2020 as a platform to consolidate its investments, starting with GNAP, a distributor of abrasive products acquired from Frontenac in November 2018, along with 10 subsequent add-on acquisitions completed over the preceding 18 months. At the time of its sale to Nautic, SurfacePrep was a full-line distributor of abrasive products, including blasting and tumbling media, coated abrasives, chemicals, and metallurgical additives. The company operated a network of 35 distribution branches, 10 process development labs, and multiple finishing centers across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
“The demand for Fund III is a testament to the experience of our team,” said Jason Sutherland, a co-managing partner of CenterOak. “Our theme-driven investment approach and differentiated sourcing allow us to find attractive entry points into large, fragmented categories. We remain focused on providing capital to families, founders, and talented executives to build meaningful businesses.”
PJT Park Hill was the placement agent for Fund III, and Kirkland & Ellis provided legal services.
© 2024 Private Equity Professional | August 27, 2024
