Whitehorse hits $1bn hard-cap on second vehicle – exclusive

Whitehorse Liquidity Partners has hit the hard-cap on its second preferred equity fund, collecting more than double the amount raised for its first.

Whitehorse Liquidity Partners II raised $1 billion against a target of $800 million, according to a statement from the firm seen exclusively by Secondaries Investor. Fund II counts on support from new and existing investors comprising insurance companies, public and corporate pension plans, family offices, financial institutions and individual investors.

“The increase in the size of Fund II reflects the significant scale of the market opportunity we see ahead of us, and we are now well placed to continue to capture this white-space opportunity,” said Yann Robard, Whitehorse managing partner.

Over the course of fundraising the Toronto-headquartered firm has tripled its headcount to 20 professionals, the statement added. Since 2016 Whitehorse has executed 18 pending or closed transactions, valued at more than $1 billion.

Kirkland & Ellis served as legal counsel on the fundraising.

Fund II launched in January and held an $836 million close in April, Secondaries Investor reported.

Investors include Alaska Permanent Fund, which committed $50 million, and Montgomery County Employees’ Retirement System, according to PEI data.

The firm’s debut vehicle, Whitehorse Liquidity Partners I, reached its $400 million hard-cap in May last year. The fund was oversubscribed within two quarters of launching, Secondaries Investor reported.

Robard, who was formerly head of secondaries at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, founded Whitehorse. In September, Giorgio Riva, a principal with CPPIB’s secondaries and co-investments team, joined the firm as a partner.

Whitehorse targets preferred equity investments in private equity portfolios on the secondaries market, making transactions with institutional investors looking to exit their fund stakes, funds of funds wanting to create distributions for their limited partners and secondaries buyers interested in financing portfolio purchases.

Preferred equity transaction volumes hit $2.4 billion in the first half of 2018 compared with $3 billion for the whole of 2017, according to data from secondaries advisor Evercore, reported by Secondaries Investor.