Unigestion closes secondaries fund on €190m

European hedge fund and private equity fund of funds manager Unigestion has closed its Secondary Opportunity Fund II on €190 million.

The original target for the fund, which was launched in late 2008 to capitalise on bargains in the secondary market, was €150 million. Fund II targets small and mid-sized transactions between €3 million to €20 million from distressed and overexposed private equity sellers in the small to mid-market sphere. The fund is well over 50 percent invested, having deployed capital into 13 European and US private equity funds.

“Over the last 18 months, we have been able to identify and acquire, in mostly non-auctioned processes, private equity funds at an inflection point of their value development,” Hanspeter Bader,  managing director of Unigestion’s private equity activities, said in a statement.

Unigestion is also anticipating reaching a first close for its Ethos Environmental Sustainability Fund before the end of June, according to the firm. The fund focuses on growth capital, infrastructure and venture capital investments in alternative energies, efficient use of resources, and pollution control. It is seeking to profit from the “significant” drop in the price of sustainable assets, the levels of which have not been seen since 2004.

The Unigestion-Ethos Sustainability Fund is targeting between €100 million and €150 million. The amount of the first close was not disclosed.

Both funds have a commitment period of three years and are following the traditional limited partnership structure. The Secondary Opportunity Fund II requires minimum commitment of €5 million, while the Environmental Sustainability Fund of Funds requires at least $7.5 million from its investors.

Geneva-based Unigestion was founded in 1971 and has €8.1 billion of assets under management.