Electra raises £100m

Electra Partners has raised £100m to deploy in areas including real estate alongside the capital of its main client, Electra Private Equity plc, as the latter returns to fully-blown private equity investment.


UK-based private equity firm Electra Partners has attracted commitments of £100 million (€125 million; $198 million) for a European fund that will invest primarily in buyouts but also other types of investment such as real estate and mezzanine. With leverage, the new vehicle will have £1 billion to invest mainly in the UK and Western Europe.

As well as giving Electra Partners a fresh well of capital, the move is also a significant next step for its principal client, the quoted investment trust, Electra Private Equity.

The company fought off a hostile takeover bid by 3i in 1999 and subsequently embarked on a successful five-year liquidation process, but then, following a 2006 strategic review, decided to return to fully blown private equity investments. To do so, it removed a rule that it could only re-invest up to a third of proceeds from realisations and appointed Electra Partners as investment manager.

The new fund will seek mid-market buyouts, mezzanine and real estate deals typically ranging between £20 million to £70 million with an enterprise value up to £300 million.

David Symondson, a partner at the firm said: “Raising this new fund marks an important step in our return to the investment market.”