Natixis affiliate raises €199m for secondaries

Euro Private Equity, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, has held the first close on its sophomore secondaries fund.

Select Opportunities II raised €199 million of a €250 million target, according to a statement from the firm. New investors account for 43 percent of capital raised so far, Asian investors for 15 percent.

Euro PE’s Select Opportunities funds make secondaries deals and co-investments in small and medium-sized European companies, the statement noted.

“This combined investment approach aimed to make full use of two strategies that dovetail very neatly – maximising the internal rate of return on secondaries deals and the portfolio’s multiple on co-investment, while at the same time reducing the fund’s duration and the J curve,” said Eric Deram, founder and managing partner.

The firm’s 2014-vintage debut fund Select Opportunities I raised €130 million, the statement noted. It has 20 holdings and has a net IRR of more than 20 percent.

Euro PE has €2.6 billion in assets under management across private equity, infrastructure and mezzanine funds, according to its website. Natixis acquired the firm in 2013.

Natixis has just over $1 trillion in assets under management, according to its website, four percent of which is classed as alternative/structured products.

Secondaries fundraising in the first half of this year, measured by funds holding their final close, was down $11.7 billion on the same period last year and hit the lowest first-half total in five years, Secondaries Investor reported.

Ardian, Coller Capital, Lexington Partners and Strategic Partners are among those seeking dedicated secondaries capital, alongside Glendower Capital and ICG.