Rothschild picks up Spanish tail-end stake

Rothschild Merchant Banking Group‘s secondaries unit, Five Arrows Secondary Opportunities (FASO), has acquired a stake in a tail-end Spanish growth equity fund from asset manager Sofina.

Brussels-headquartered Sofina sold its stake in MCH Iberian Capital Fund II, a spokesman confirmed. A UK regulatory filing shows the unit bought the interest in the fund from Sofina, which sold from its Sofina Private Equity SCA, SICAR vehicle.

MCH Iberian Capital Fund II is a 2003-vintage that closed on €160 million. The fund is managed by Madrid-based MCH Private Equity and focused on growth equity investments in Portugal and Spain, according to PEI Research & Analytics.

FASO used its €259 million 2012-vintage Five Arrows Secondary Opportunities III fund to acquire the stake. FASO III was almost fully invested as of last November, Mireille Klitting, managing partner at FASO, told Secondaries Investor at the time.

The banking group was planning to seek between €350 million to €400 million for its successor fund, Five Arrows Secondary Opportunities IV, in the first quarter of this year, Klitting said. A Luxembourg regulatory filing shows the fund was registered on 16 February.

Sofina makes between $10 million and $25 million commitments in top-tier, mainly venture capital and growth equity funds, according to its website. The firm largely focuses on US and emerging markets investments.

Rothschild and MCH did not return requests for comment.