Whitehorse nearing Fund II final close

Whitehorse Liquidity Partners is nearing the $1 billion hard-cap on its sophomore preferred equity fund after around seven months in market.

Whitehorse Liquidity Partners II has raised $975.4 million, $310 million of which came through an offshore vehicle, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The fund has attracted commitments from 59 investors, the filing noted.

Fund II launched in January with a $750 million target 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, which committed $17 million.

The firm’s debut fund, 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.

Whitehorse was founded by former Canada Pension Plan Investment Board secondaries head Yann Robard. In September Giorgio Riva, a principal with CPPIB’s secondaries and co-investments team, joined Whitehorse as a partner.

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

A survey published in February by 17Capital, whose latest fund raised €1.2 billion for preferred equity investments, found that 67 percent of LPs have used or would consider using an alternative to the secondaries market, such as preferred equity or debt tranches.

Whitehorse could not be reached for comment.