HELSINKI – Certior Private Equity Fund II (CPEF II), a Finnish limited partnership, has recently held a first close supported by a group of Finnish institutional investors from the pension fund, financial and endowment sectors.
“Our private equity portfolios are deliberately very different to those of other managers”, comments Ari Jauho, the Chairman of Certior Capital. “Private equity has gone mainstream as an asset class and following the crowd just doesn’t result in outperformance. Our new fund will follow our well established investment philosophy of focusing on undercapitalised market segments, backing new and emerging managers, typically industry veterans setting up their own firms, and being their preferred co-investor. We will invest very opportunistically across Europe alongside under the radar emerging managers, deal by deal teams, concept funds, SPVs and single asset funds. Our long presence and deep network in the market is essential in sourcing the differentiated dealflow which allows us to produce above average net returns”.
CPEF II aims to build a portfolio of 30-50 small-cap buyout and growth equity investments in companies across Europe split equally between fund and co-investments. In particular, it will target capex light businesses with recurring revenues and mission critical services in segments offering strong secular growth. The Certior team has sourced ~100 potential deal opportunities in the past 12 months with ~10 funds, SPVs and co-investments in advanced due diligence currently. The new fund is seeking to raise EUR 80m by final close and will be open throughout 2023. Borenius in Helsinki are providing legal advice to Certior Capital.
The new fund continues the strategy of the predecessor vehicle, Certior Private Equity Fund I, which has demonstrated strong performance since final close in 2020 and is currently showing a 20.0% net IRR as of Q2 2022.
About Certior Capital
Certior Capital is a value-add focused private equity and private credit advisor and alternative investment fund manager supervised by the Finnish FSA. The firm’s core expertise is in Europe’s lower- and mid-market private equity and private credit markets, where the team’s experience is one of the longest in Europe. It focuses on undercapitalised market segments, cornerstoning new managers and co-investments. As well as separate accounts, Certior Capital manages three distinct series of funds for institutional investors: Certior Private Equity Funds, Certior Special Opportunity Funds and Certior Credit Opportunity Funds.
For further comments or additional information please contact:
Ari Jauho Email: ari.jauho@certiorcapital.com Tel: +358 50 3378 282
