The Bowmark VII was launched with a target of £800 million and experienced significant demand from both existing and new investors. And the fund achieved a rapid first close in October 2023 and held a final close at its hard cap within just three months of the first closing.
The speed with which the fund was raised in an otherwise challenging fundraising environment and the significant investor demand over the fund’s hard cap are indicative of Bowmark’s consistently strong investment performance across multiple economic cycles.
Bowmark Capital Partners VII was supported by 31 institutional investors, with 48% of the capital coming from Continental Europe, 37% from North America, 7% from the UK, and 8% from other countries. Overall, pension funds committed 32% and insurance companies 21%, with 20% coming from funds-of-funds, 17% from other financial institutions, and 10% from endowments, foundations, and family offices.
The fund will continue Bowmark’s proven strategy of active investment in high-quality and high-growth businesses in four core areas of the technology sector: data and insight, managed IT services, software, and technology-enabled business services.
PJT Park Hill acted as the exclusive placement agent for the fundraising and Kirkland & Ellis acted as legal counsel.
KEY QUOTE:
“We are immensely grateful to our investors for the confidence they have placed in us, especially in such a tight year for private equity allocations, and for their support in enabling the fundraising to be completed so efficiently.”
“Along with Bowmark Growth Partners, our fund focusing on smaller companies, we now have over £1 billion of dry powder available for new investment, at what we believe will prove to be a very attractive time to invest in mid-market companies – driven by a recovering economy and the long-term growth drivers of technology, digitisation and outsourcing. We are excited at the opportunities ahead and look forward to continuing to partner with enterprising management teams in the business services and technology sectors to help them realise their growth ambitions.”
– Charles Ind, managing partner
