EMH Partners raises €650m for second growth fund

European firm EMH Partners has raised €650m for a new growth fund focused on midsize companies across the DACH region of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The Munich-based private equity firm’s second fund closed with nearly double the €350m it raised for a previous fund in 2017, despite some fundraising delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

“We were hoping to wrap up the fundraising earlier this year,” said EMH co-founder and Managing Partner Maximilian Kuss, who added that travel restrictions and remote due diligence slowed the fundraising process. “We lost a couple of months.”

The delay didn’t stop EMH from reaching the fund’s hard cap or attracting new limited partners, including ones in North America. According to Kuss, North American investors that hadn’t backed the firm’s first effort accounted for 25% of the capital raised.

The remainder came from European LPs, including ones in the DACH countries.

EMH’s portfolio held up comparatively well during the pandemic. As of the end of June, assets in its first fund were valued above their levels before the pandemic, he said. The firm also had no exposure to highly impacted industries such as travel or traditional manufacturing, according to Kuss.

EMH backs minority stakes in midsize companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, focusing on rapidly growing, profitable businesses with €50m to €500m in annual revenue, according to the firm’s website. The firm seeks to support technology-enabled businesses and to help digitise companies that lack tech-savvy.

EMH has already backed two deals out of the new fund, Avantgarde Gesellschaft für Kommunikation mbH and Liganova Group, according to Kuss. Avantgarde is a global brand management and marketing services company based in Germany, while Liganova Group is a German-based brand experience management company that helps retailers transform physical spaces into digital experiences.

Kuss co-founded EMH in 2010 alongside his brother Sebastian Kuss, who is also a managing partner at the firm. The brothers started and sold two technology companies while still attending university, reaping gains from both, according to the firm’s website. 

Source: Private Equity News