Argosy hits hard-cap in quick final close

Argosy Capital has held a final close for its first institutional secondaries fund on its hard-cap only five months after its first close.

Argosy Strategic Partners (ASP), the firm’s secondaries unit, raised $70 million for Argosy Strategic Partners II, exceeding its $50 million target, according to a 15 March press release. The fund first launched in September, according to Secondaries Investor data.

The fund will primarily focus on LP stakes in buyout, growth and venture funds, as well as direct venture interests, according to ASP managing partner Christopher Kim. To date, the fund has acquired 26 fund investments and three direct investments, the release noted.

The secondaries vehicle will also look to participate in GP-led deals such as continuation funds, but will have to be part of larger syndicates rather than leading deals due to the fund’s limited size, Kim added.

The firm started investing in secondaries through an internal fund raised from a select group of investors in 2019, affiliate title Buyouts reported. The strategy will remain unchanged, albeit with slightly larger cheque sizes reflecting the size of the new fund, according to Kim.

The firm hired Kim from Willowridge Partners in 2019 to lead ASP, and brought on William Wang last year from APG Asset Management to join him. Before his three-year stint at the asset management arm of Dutch pension fund APG, Wang also worked at Willowridge from 2014 to 2018.

Argosy, headquartered in Wayne, Pennsylvania, was formed in 1990 and has grown into a multi-strategy shop in the model of its larger peers such as Blackstone and KKR, but with a strict focus on the lower mid-market.

Argosy targets deals from $5 million to $15 million – with $10 million being the normal limit – sources told Buyouts.

Secondaries is one of several strategies offered by Argosy. Its newest is healthcare, which it formed early in 2021. Argosy Healthcare Partners is led by Paul Barrett, who joined in January to lead the healthcare push, the firm said in a statement at the time.

Argosy also focuses on private equity, real estate and credit. It has most recently been raising its sixth private equity fund, collecting $180 million thus far, according to affiliate title PEI data. It is not clear how much Fund VI is targeting.

Argosy Capital is majority-owned by Bruce Terker, the founder of Odyssey Capital Group. Argosy Management, the adviser for the private equity funds, is owned by Odyssey, Kirk Griswold and John Kirwin, according to Argosy’s Form ADV.

Argosy Strategic Management, which manages the secondaries funds, is owned by Odyssey and Kim, the ADV said.

Chris Witkowsky contributed to this article.