SL gears up to close next secondaries deal

Edinburgh-based SL Capital Partners has deployed one third of its maiden secondaries fund and is gearing up to close another deal in the upcoming weeks, Secondaries Investor has learned.

SL focuses on smaller secondaries deals that range between $5 million and $50 million each. However, the firm has been more selective this year because prices are high, according to Patrick Knechtli, a partner at the firm.

“Buyers are being more selective about what they are working on, so they will only put time and effort in deals that they think will win.”

Earlier this year,  SL purchased a stake in Pantheon Europe V from Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead for a discount to net asset value. As of August, the firm had made a total of three secondaries investments.

The deals come from SL’s maiden secondaries fund which closed in February on $190 million. Secondary Opportunity I attracted 10 limited partners, including pension funds and one large family office. About half of the LPs were first-time investors.

SL Capital Partners is a subsidiary of global asset manager Standard Life Investments. The firm manages €8.2 billion assets under management as of 3o June, according to its website.