Mantra collects €53m for secondaries

Fund of funds manager Mantra has collected €53 million for its debut secondaries fund, according to a statement.

The Mantra Secondaries Opportunity Fund (MSO) launched in August 2014 with a €50 million target. The fund has a €75 million hard-cap, which the firm expects to hit, the statement disclosed.

Limited partners in the fund include family offices, pension funds, insurance companies and financial institutions from the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East.

Mantra was founded in 2007 by Antoine Drean, who previously founded private equity specialist advisor Triago and online private equity marketplace Palico.

MSO will purchase stakes in private equity funds focused on niche strategies with less competition. These strategies include intellectual property, life insurance settlements, litigation funding, technology applied to water, agribusiness, timber, mining, royalty strategies and shipping and aircraft leasing.

“With prices for traditional buyouts near record highs, the best values today are often found in private equity’s less conventional strategies,” Drean said.

Mantra’s fund of funds, Mantra Alternative Private Equity (MAPE), has been investing since 2011. MAPE makes primary commitments, co-investments and secondaries purchases and about 2x of capital is invested.

Mantra has offices in Paris, New York and Luxembourg.