Northleaf secures $400m to invest in secondaries

A significant portion of the capital is part of an expanded secondaries-focused mandate with Canadian pension fund CDPQ.

Northleaf Capital Partners has boosted its secondaries firepower as part of a $1 billion fundraise.

The Toronto-headquartered investment manager secured the commitments across its private equity, credit and infrastructure businesses, according to a statement. Around 40 percent of this is earmarked for secondaries investments, a spokesman for the firm confirmed to Secondaries Investor.

Part of the $1 billion includes an expanded custom mandate for Canadian pension Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec focused on mid-market secondaries, as well as an expanded separately managed account with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which invests in the Canadian private equity market on a primary and secondary basis through an evergreen structure.

It is not clear if these two SMAs account for all or part of the $400 million.

“Our integrated focus on secondary market transactions, fund investments, direct minority investments and co-investments provides investors with differentiated access and exposure to mid-market private company value creation,” said Michael Flood, managing director and head of Northleaf’s private equity team.

Northleaf held an $800 million final close on its second dedicated secondaries fund in September last year. It also raised an additional $500 million for SMAs.

The firm targets transactions of less than $100 million in size. A significant proportion of its funds is made up of portfolios and direct interests focused on companies with between $10 million and $100 million in EBITDA, Flood told Secondaries Investor last year.

Northleaf ranked 21st in the latest SI 30 ranking of largest secondaries fundraisers, having amassed $2.38 billion over the previous five-year period.