Phoenix Equity Partners has reached the final close of Insight Fund III at £570 million of commitments, against a £500 million target and a £550 million hard cap, Real Deals reported. The raise is about 40 percent larger than its predecessor, Insight Fund II, which closed at £415 million in 2022, and was concluded in about seven months, with the data room opening at the start of April.
Existing investors carried the raise. The fund achieved a re-up rate of more than 90 percent, and 15 new limited partners contributed about £200 million. Significant capital came from United States investors, the firm’s largest new market for capital, alongside its first commitments from Asia and investors across the United Kingdom and continental Europe, including public pension schemes, asset managers, insurers, funds of funds and family offices. The firm said it had halted fundraising below the hard cap a month before close, and that commitments from founders and entrepreneurs it had previously backed supplied the final push above £550 million.
The vehicle, domiciled in Guernsey and classified as an Article 8 fund under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, will make 10 to 15 platform investments with equity tickets between £20 million and £200 million, targeting founder led lower mid-market businesses in the United Kingdom and Ireland with enterprise values between £50 million and £150 million. Its sectors are health and wellbeing, technology and specialist services, and data and analytics, with a significant share of capital reserved for buy and build.
The fund has yet to make its first deployment, which the firm expects before year end, on a standard five year deployment strategy. UBS acted as placement agent.