Mantra hits first close on way to €100m target – exclusive

Niche investment manager Mantra Investment Partners has hit a €64 million first close on its second dedicated secondaries fund.

The target was reached last Friday, according to a source with knowledge of the fundraising, and comes after around seven months in market.

Mantra Secondary Opportunities II is targeting €100 million, double its predecessor, and has a hard-cap of €120 million, Secondaries Investor reported in July.

As its predecessor, it is seeking niche, less competitive deals with a particular focus on mining, agribusiness, energy and real assets.

MSO II will target a 2x net return multiple and a 25 percent net internal rate of return, Fabrice Moyne, a partner who is now understood to be head of secondaries, told Secondaries Investor in July.

He added the fund will have a 10 percent preferred return, management fees will be 10 percent lower than that of its predecessor and will only be charged on invested capital when the first deal from MSO II closes. It is not clear how much management fees are.

MSO closed in December 2015, above its €75 million hard-cap on €80 million, after 15 months of fundraising, Secondaries Investor reported.

The fund is notable for its geographical diversity, having acquired stakes in Latin American funds focused on farming services and funds exposed to Canadian oil and gas upstream and downstream services, among others.

Mantra declined to comment.