Access collects €56m for private debt

Parisian fund manager Access Capital Partners has held a first close on €56 million for its second private debt fund, according to a statement.

Access Capital Private Debt Fund II has a €150 million target and secured enough capital from existing investors to hold the first close.

Fund II will make private debt and mezzanine investments in Europe’s mid-market through co-investments, supplemented by primary and secondary fund commitments.

The fund has already sealed its first co-investment in European biomedical implant manufacturer Marle. It has also made a primary commitment to a European mezzanine fund and is finalising a secondaries transaction.

Access is also in market with its sixth flagship fund of funds. Access Capital Fund VI Growth Buy-out Europe launched last year and held a first close on €190 million in January. Similar to the firm’s prior flagship funds, about 40 percent of this fund’s capital is allocated to secondaries transactions.

Mixing secondaries alongside primary commitments in its funds of funds had been a growing practice for the firm, Access managing partner Philippe Poggioli previously said.

“Our second and third fund had a secondaries element of 20 percent; our fourth fund consisted of 28 percent secondaries, and Fund V and VI consist of 40 percent secondary transactions. This helps in deal deployment, and plays a countercyclical role in the deployment of assets for fund of funds. The situation in the market is that there are more sellers than buyers at the minute making secondaries expensive, although this will change.”

Access was founded in 1998 and is led by chairman Dominique Peninon and managing partners Agnès Nahum and Poggioli. The firm also invests in private infrastructure and has additional offices in Brussels, Helsinki, London and Munich, according to its website.