Kirkland Directs PE Firm Fort Point's $194M Fund Closing
Private equity firm Fort Point Capital, working with Kirkland & Ellis LLP, said Wednesday it nabbed $194 million for its latest fund focusing on lower middle market companies.
The Boston-based firm said in a news release that FPC Small Cap Fund II exceeded its $175 million target. Since its 2010 launch, the firm has secured nearly $300 million in equity commitments across its funds.
"We look forward to investing our new capital base in compelling risk-reward opportunities," Fort Point co-founder and partner Brooke Ablon said in a statement. "We will continue our disciplined and systematic approach of investing in attractive subsectors and operationally focused post-investment value creation."
Paul Lipson, another Fort Point co-founder and partner, thanked the firm's existing and new limited partners, which he said have expanded to include financial institutions, family offices and pension funds.
Fort Point invests in companies in the lower middle market, or those that are worth between $20 million to $75 million, including debt, the firm's website says. The firm specifically hones in on enterprises that offer services to other businesses.
The firm said it has invested in 10 platform companies and made 15 add-on acquisitions to increase the size of its portfolio companies. Its existing portfolio includes an elevator maintenance business, a logistics provider, two marketing services companies and a home decor designer.
The private equity investor's focus on middle market companies is one that's also being echoed by firms securing billion-dollar amounts for their investment vehicles. The middle market generally refers to companies whose annual revenue ranges between $10 million to $1 billion.
Most recently, Oak Hill Capital said earlier this month that it landed $3.8 billion to invest in middle market enterprises based in North America. The firm is active specifically in the industrial, media and communications and consumer sectors, among others.
And although private equity firm Monarch Alternative Capital LP said in December that its $3 billion vehicle was focusing on distressed opportunities ignited by the coronavirus pandemic, the firm said the majority of those investment opportunities have opened up in the middle market.
For an honorable mention, Thomas H. Lee Partners' and Graham Partners' middle market-focused funds almost hit the billion-dollar mark with THL Automation Fund LP's $900 million close and Graham Partners V LP's $937 million closing, respectively. Both closes were announced in November 2020.
FPC Small Cap Fund II's placement agent is Forum Capital Partners.
A representative for Fort Point did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
The Kirkland team includes investment funds partners Jeffrey Kaplan and Samuel Scarcello and associate Julia Trotta.
