Pollen Street nabs TPG’s European fundraising head

UK-based Pollen Street Capital has appointed Magnus Christensson, former Europe fundraising head at TPG Capital, as partner and head of fundraising and investor relations.

It is understood Christensson will take over fundraising for Pollen Street’s third fund, PSC Fund III. The vehicle held a first close in March, having raised over £120 million ($144 million: €134 million). Fund III will target lower mid-market investments in European financial services businesses.

This will allow the rest of the team to focus on making and managing investments.

Christensson has worked in fundraising and investor relations for 19 years, during which he has been involved in raising over $4 billion, Pollen Street said. He worked at TPG for almost five years as head of fundraising for Europe and  previously served as head of Europe for Jefferies Fund Placement Group. Earlier in his career, he worked at Atlantic-Pacific Capital and Rothschild's private equity business.

Pollen Street Capital, previously known as SOF Investments, spun out from Royal Bank of Scotland in November 2013. The firm typically invests in businesses with an operational value of between £200 million and £500 million, writing equity tickets of between £20 million and £70 million, as reported by PEI.