Kline Hill nears $1bn capital raise across three funds

The firm is expected to hold the final close on its latest programme before end-June.

Kline Hill Partners has nearly met its reported target with a first close for its multi-strategy fundraise, placing it in close reach of the collective $1 billion hard-cap.

The Greenwich, Connecticut-based firm has raised $915 million between three vehicles, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission dated 22 February.

The three funds, which affiliate title Buyouts reported in June were targeting a collective $950 million, include core strategy Kline Hill Partners Fund IV, inaugural GP-led fund Kline Hill Partners Solutions Fund and overage vehicle Kline Hill Partners Opportunity Fund IV.

Limited partners are understood to have either come in directly to an underlying fund or through the master feeder.

While the individual hard-caps for each fund were not disclosed, the three hard-caps together add up to $1 billion, according to a source close to the fundraise. Roughly 90 percent of that figure has been allocated across the three funds, the source added.

The funds were expected to launch in October, affiliate title Buyouts reported. As with previous vehicles, Kline Hill prefers two closes about three or four months apart, according to the same source.

The core strategy targets up to $525 million, the GP-led fund targets up to $250 million, and the overage fund seeks $175 million, Buyouts reported in July. Fund IV has proven a modest increase from the $600 million for Fund III and its overage vehicle.

While the GP-led strategy will exclusively back GP-led deals, the core strategy will still invest 5 percent to 10 percent in GP-leds to capture the heightened return profile relative to traditional LP deals, according to the same source. The majority of core, 70 percent, will be LP deals, with directs making up the rest.

The funds could overlap on deals, though they also have the freedom to take different proportions or do different deals, according to the source.

Kline Hill focuses on small deal sizes, usually below $10 million, where there is less competition. In terms of asset class, the funds have appetite for buyouts, growth, venture, tech, healthcare, including devices and biotech, and real assets.

Kline Hill declined to comment.