private equity

The team behind one of the UK's best-known mid-market firms has formed Horizon Capital, backed by a group of investors including Pantheon and Idinvest Partners.

The firm's Strategic Partners secondaries unit is seeking $8bn for Fund VIII, as Secondaries Investor reported in May.

The increasing acceptance of GP-led deals has opened up opportunities in the smaller end of the market, but unique challenges arise when dealing with smaller funds.

The Japanese banking giant has offloaded stakes in KKR, EQT and Charterhouse funds, the oldest of which is of 2014 vintage.

The French investment firm, which owns companies including restaurant chain Léon de Bruxelles, is moving around €600m of assets off its balance sheet.

The team is seeking buyers to back a portfolio of 25 Dutch companies and provide capital for a new private equity fund, Secondaries Investor has learned.

The secondaries firm has hired George Weekes, a former Canada Pension Plan Investment Board funds, secondaries and co-investment professional.

Mantra Secondary Opportunities II, which launched in October last year, will focus on niche sectors of the market.

Rebecca John, who had been with the firm for 17 years, left the secondaries firm at the end of September.

In the wake of former head Larry Thuet's retirement, Jonathan Costello talks to Secondaries Investor about growth plans for the firm, single asset restructurings and securitisations.