- Leading middle-market private equity firm Freeman Spogli & Co. announced it closed $1.85 billion in capital commitments for its eight fund
Freeman Spogli & Co. — a leading middle-market private equity firm — announced it has closed FS Equity Partners VIII, L.P. (“Fund VIII”) at a hard cap of $1.85 billion in capital commitments. Fund VIII is considered the successor fund to FS Equity Partners VII, L.P., which had total commitments of $1.3 billion. And commitments to Fund VIII came from a diverse group of public and private pension funds, endowments, insurance companies, foundations, financial institutions, and family offices.
“We are grateful and humbled to have received such a high level of interest for Fund VIII,” said Freeman Spogli co-founder and co-chairman Ron Spogli. “Our team is deeply appreciative of the long-term support from existing limited partners and we are excited to welcome new investors to Fund VIII. We value these relationships and the continued support our limited partners have shown us.”
Fund VIII is going to target investment opportunities in established middle-market consumer and distribution companies in North America. And Fund VIII will seek to deploy $75 to $300 million of capital per investment with significant additional investment capacity available through its limited partner relationships.
“Fund VIII will build on Freeman Spogli’s proven investment strategy of partnering with experienced management teams and providing the capital and strategic resources to help these companies create significant post-acquisition value for shareholders,” added Freeman Spogli & Co. CEO John Roth. “We look forward to continuing our long history of partnering with strong management teams in market-leading and differentiated businesses with transformative opportunities.”
Freeman Spogli is seeking to invest in companies with differentiated business models, defensible market positions, strong foundations for growth. Plus it is also looking for companies with attractive free cash flow characteristics, experienced operators, and opportunities for investment in strategic value creation initiatives, and operating enhancements.
Freeman Spogli & Co. launched in 1983 and it is dedicated exclusively to investing in and partnering with management in middle-market consumer and distribution companies in North America. Since being founded, Freeman Spogli invested $4.5 billion in 61 investments with an aggregate transaction value of over $23 billion.
The partners of Freeman Spogli have been with the firm for an average of 25 years and successfully executed and managed investments through various economic and market cycles since the firm was founded.
Freeman’s executives also include co-chairman Bradford M. Freeman, President and COO Jon Ralph, partner Brad Brutocao, partner Benjamin Geiger, partner Todd Halloran, partner Jordan Hathaway, partner John Hwang, partner Christian Johnson, senior advisor Betty Sheets, partner J. Frederick Simmons, partner Bill Wardlaw, vice president Sara Gilson, vice president Brendan Motz, vice president Juan Pita, vice president Shannon Vonk, senior associate Anthony Biegel, senior associate Rayhaan Charania, senior associate Robert Lewis, senior associate Dennis McCarthy, and CFO Lou Losorelli.
Lazard had acted as lead placement agent and Triago acted as placement agent for several European investors. And Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal counsel.
