Kester Capital, a leading UK lower mid-market private equity firm, announced the successful final closing of its latest fund, Kester Capital III. The fund, which was oversubscribed, exceeded its target of £150 million and closed at its hard cap of £200 million, more than double the size of its predecessor fund.
In line with Kester Capital II, this fund’s strategy remains focused on investing in primary buyouts in the healthcare and tech sectors.
This fund builds on the successes of Kester Capital I and Kester Capital II, which have delivered three consecutive exits with returns over four times and seven consecutive exits with returns over three times. Kester Capital’s most recent exit from Jollyes delivered a return of 4.2 times.
For this fund, Kester Capital attracted several new blue-chip institutional investors from the US, Europe, and the UK, along with support from existing investors, underscoring the strength of Kester’s proposition.
Kester Capital committed 10% of the fund’s carry to the Kester Foundation – established in 2022 to support various charities and not-for-profit organizations.
Kester Capital has also announced that Abhishek Majumdar has been promoted to Partner. Abhishek joined Kester Capital in 2023, having spent seven years at Inflexion. And earlier this year, Sophie Corrodi – previously at Inflexion and OC&C – joined the firm as an Associate.
KEY QUOTES:
“This is the next step for Kester – hitting our hard cap and attracting so many new, high-quality LPs alongside our long-standing supporters, all in a challenging market. That’s testament to the hard work our management and investment teams are putting in every day and proof of our strategy. We are very proud of the top decile returns we have been delivering for our investors.”
“This fund is particularly special for us too as we launch the Kester Foundation alongside it. With 10% of carry going into the Fund, we hope to make a meaningful impact and share our success with important and deserving charitable causes.”
– Adam Maidment, Managing Partner at Kester Capital
“Abhishek has made an immediate impact since joining the business and we are thrilled to promote him to Partner. He brings a wealth of experience in the technology sector and will be an invaluable member as we look to continue our success with this latest fund. We are also excited to welcome Sophie to the business as we expand our team.”
– Cameron Crockett, Managing Partner at Kester Capital
