Hollyport buys Advent VC stakes from Deutsche Bank

Hollyport Capital, the tail-end and direct secondaries specialist, has bought stakes in two Advent Venture Partners funds, according to a UK regulatory filing.

Hollyport purchased four stakes in Advent Private Equity Fund II and one stake in Advent Private Equity Fund III from Deutsche Bank. Advent Private Equity Fund II is a 1998-vintage $162 million vehicle, and Advent Private Equity Fund III is a £300 million ($461.6 million; €409.6 million) vehicle that closed in February 2001, according to PEI’s Research and Analytics division. Both are later-stage venture capital opportunity funds focusing on IT and life sciences investments in the UK, Western Europe and the US.

Hollyport bought the stakes from BT Private Equity Portfolio Company II and Deutsche Banc Alex Brown Venture Investors Portfolio, two Deutsche-owned vehicles, through its Hollyport Secondary Opportunities IV fund. Hollyport Secondary Opportunities IV closed above target on £75 million in December 2013 after 10 months of fundraising. The fund is about 75 percent called, Secondaries Investor reported in July.

The Deutsche deal was completed on 30 June.

It wasn’t clear if any companies are still held by the two Advent funds, which are fully liquidated according to PEI data. A lawyer who works on private equity fund formation said one reason fully liquidated funds could be attractive is if there are pending lawsuits where the fund is a plaintiff, although it is not clear whether that is the case with these Advent funds.

“The buyer would be buying in expectation of a specific source of money,” he said.

Hollyport is currently fundraising for its fifth dedicated secondaries fund, Hollyport Secondary Opportunities V, and held first close on £125 million at the end of July after two months of fundraising.

London-based Advent typically invests between £5 million and £15 million in any one company, according to its website. Investments it has made include video sharing site Dailymotion, ocular cancer treatment researcher Aura Biosciences, and ASK, a developer of contactless smartcard solutions.

Hollyport, Advent and Deutsche did not reply to requests for comment by press time.