Grafine Partners, a private investment firm that accesses differentiated sources of alpha by investing in new firms led by experienced private equity investors, announced that it closed its inaugural strategy, Grafine Capital I, and parallel vehicles, with about $600 million in total capital commitments. This strategy exceeded a target of $500 million with commitments from a small and select group of institutional investors seeking new approaches to generating returns.
Grafine’s first strategy offers anchor LP capital and institutional-level support for first-time funds launched by experienced private markets investors in exchange for revenue sharing and access to co-investment opportunities for LPs.
Following a series of rolling closes, a major portion of the funding has already been deployed in three first-time managers and associated direct investments:
- Ascendant Capital Partners – A vertically integrated opportunistic real estate investment and operating firm focused on hotel and residential investments.
- Stanley Capital Partners – A European-focused mid-market private equity firm focused on healthcare, technology, and resource efficiency.
- The Newcastle Network – An investment platform providing growth capital to lower middle market performing consumer businesses.
Grafine also recently launched its second strategy focused on co-investments, which will be a pooled vehicle seeking to earn high risk-adjusted returns by investing in a portfolio of highly vetted co-investment opportunities sponsored by select emerging private equity managers.
Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisor to Grafine.
KEY QUOTE:
“Grafine’s mission is to provide access to differentiated and potentially high returning investment opportunities by investing behind the next generation of talented managers and operating partners and working with them day in and day out to build profitable and scalable firms. We are grateful for the support of our investors during one of the most challenging fundraising environments in recent history, and for their belief in our team’s ability to deliver alpha through our access to sources of differentiated deal flow, leveraging creative structures that are intentionally designed to align our capital partners and dealmakers to form transparent and long-standing partnerships.”
– Elizabeth Weymouth, Founder and Managing Partner at Grafine
