Madison River Capital (MRC), a lower middle market private equity firm, announced the final closing of its first institutional fund, Madison River Capital Fund I, with over $370 million of capital commitments. And the firm received strong support from a sophisticated investor base, including family offices and institutional investors.
MRC was started in 2022 following its spin-out from Jefferson River Capital, the family office of Tony James, the former President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone. MRC is headed by David Wittels, who previously led Jefferson River and its corporate private equity investment team. It also has a talented and seasoned team that has worked together for over a decade.
MRC will use Fund I to advance its strategy of control buyout investments in the lower middle market, with a focus on the healthcare services, industrials, and business services sectors. To date, the fund has completed two platform investments in companies with meaningful growth potential that operate in sectors in which MRC has deep expertise:
1.) Senior Care Therapy (SCT), a leading provider of patient-centered psychology and mental health services to the geriatric population in sub-acute, long-term care, and assisted living communities. And under MRC’s ownership, SCT steadily accelerated its high-quality offering and has executed a successful strategic add-on acquisition to broaden the company’s service offerings to psychiatry and medication management.
2.) JDC Power Systems, a leading electrical systems integrator exclusively serving the data center market. Under MRC’s ownership, JDC has significantly expanded its capabilities, widened its leadership team, and made significant value-creation investments to scale its platform.
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher served as legal counsel to MRC in the Fund organization.
KEY QUOTES:
“Since our inception, we have been focused on helping quality businesses realize their full scale and potential and enter the next stage of growth through our focus on operational excellence. We have assembled a team of world-class operating executives focused on our targeted industries as well as on functional areas we most often see underdeveloped in the size of businesses we invest in. We employ a partnership-focused, long-term approach that values quality, integrity and operational discipline, reflecting our family office heritage. This fundraise will enable us to build on that foundation and seize the many opportunities we see in the market for our key sectors. We are very grateful for the confidence shown by our investors for our first fund, and in particular for Tony’s mentorship and continued support.”
– David Wittels, Managing Partner and President at MRC
“David and his team are excellent investors, collaborative partners, and careful stewards of capital. They have achieved strong results throughout their time here, and I have confidence that they will continue to do so. I congratulate them on their continued success.”
– Tony James
