Mantra approaches final close on hard-cap

Mantra Investment Partners will close its third secondaries fund by the end of the year.

The Paris-headquartered firm has raised €180 million for Mantra Secondary Opportunities III, predominately from European limited partners, according to a source familiar with the fundraise. The fund had a target of €150 million and was oversubscribed, Secondaries Investor understands.

Mantra did not wish to comment.

Like its predecessors, Mantra III will mainly do LP deals with a preference for individual stakes. It invests in growth funds and venture capital funds with niche specialisations, as well as esoteric asset classes such as agriculture.

Secondaries Investor reported in May last year that Mantra was imminently expecting to hit the half-way point on fundraising.

“This environment is the best I’ve ever seen since I started at Mantra in February 2011,” Fabrice Moyne, partner and head of secondaries, said in May 2020. “We’re seeing a ton of sellers willing to transact. They want liquidity and they want it right now. They don’t want to wait.”

The fund will target a 2x cash-on-cash multiple and a 25 percent net internal rate of return, Moyne said, adding that the firm does not employ leverage.

The 2018-vintage Fund II raised €120 million by final close in November 2018, beating its target of €100 million, according to Secondaries Investor data.

Mantra was founded in 2007 and has 12 staff across Paris, New York and Luxembourg, according to its website. The firm was founded by Antoine Dréan, who established placement agent and advisory firm Triago in 1992.