Lexington buys into Scottish Equity fund for third time

Lexington Partners has acquired a stake in UK venture fund Scottish Equity Partners IV from UK mid-market private equity firm LDC, the third time in recent months the US secondaries house has bought into the fund.

LDC sold the stake in the 2012-vintage £200 million ($244 million; €230 million) fund late last year after being invested for five years, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. LDC declined to comment.

The New York-headquartered secondaries firm used its $10.1 billion Lexington Capital Partners VIII fund to buy the stake. Last year the same fund acquired stakes in SEP IV from German foundation Max Planck Förderstiftung and Royal London Mutual Insurance Society.

SEP IV invests up to £20 million in high growth technology and technology-enabled companies.

The fund had made 16 investments and two realisations as of March 2016, according to meeting minutes from the Glasgow City Council, which invested in the fund through the Strathclyde Pension Fund. According to a separate document produced by the Strathclyde Pension Fund the fund has a minimum target IRR of 10 percent.

Lexington and SEP declined to comment.