Phoenix hits £450m hard-cap, broadens LP base

Phoenix Equity Partners has thwarted downbeat trends in the fundraising market, having closed its latest fund on its £450 million hard-cap.

“Phoenix raised its new fund in exceptionally tough market conditions and so we are delighted to have reached our hard-cap”, managing partner Hugh Lenon said in a statement. “With terrific support from investors, both old and new, Phoenix now has fresh capital to deploy selectively during what we are confident will be a 5-year period full of opportunity.”

The “Phoenix Equity Partners 2010″ fund was oversubscribed, according to a statement from the firm which noted 48 percent of commitments were raised from new limited partners. Two-thirds of the fund’s 31 LPs are Europe-based, with the remainder from North America and the Middle East. It did not disclose the names of investors.

The firm’s 2006 Fund, which raised £375 million in 2006, received commitments from 24 institutional investors across Europe, North America and Asia, including AlpInvest, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, AXA Private Equity, Adams Street, SEB and The Wellcome Trust.

The 2010 fund was placed by Credit Suisse and advised by SJ Berwin. It is unclear precisely when the firm began marketing.

Phoenix, which spun out of CSFB Private Equity, the European arm of DLJ Merchant Banking, in 2001, focuses on financial services, leisure and retail, media, consumer and healthcare and transport and business services. It is led by managing partners Hugh Lenon, Sandy Muirhead and James Thomas.

Phoenix did not immediately return a request for comment.