Hellman & Friedman closes $10.9bn fund

January 2015 | DEALFRONT | PRIVATE EQUITY & VENTURE CAPITAL

Financier Worldwide Magazine

Hellman & Friedman LLC, a leading private equity firm, announced the final closing of its $10.9bn Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners VIII (HFCP VIII) fund in November. The total beats the firm’s $8.9bn target following just four months of fundraising. The oversubscribed HFCP VIII fund saw $10.25bn of capital raised from limited partners including the New Jersey Division of Investment and the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, which pledged $50m to the fund in July.

An additional $500m was committed by the general partners, while friends and family investors accounted for the remaining $150m. The $10.25bn raised is 15 percent larger than Hellman & Friedman’s last fund in 2009 and exceeds the $8.4bn raised in 2007. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Walkers served as legal advisers to Hellman & Friedman. Founded in 1984 by the late Warren Hellman and Tully Friedman (now head of private-equity firm Friedman Fleischer & Lowe LLC), Hellman & Friedman specialises in buyouts, restructurings and minority deals, investing $300m to $1bn in businesses located in developed markets.

Well-known for its distinctive approach to investments, since forming its first partnership in 1987 the San Francisco-based firm has raised over $35bn of committed capital and has invested in over 75 companies. The firm’s team consists of over 45 investment professionals, including 18 managing directors, located in San Francisco, London and New York. Limited partners include many large US and international corporate pension funds, US state pension funds, university endowments and foundations.

“We are pleased to announce the successful closing of our eighth fund,” said Philip Hammarskjold, chief executive of Hellman & Friedman. “We are extremely gratified by the enthusiastic support of our limited partners, many of whom have invested with us throughout our 30 year history. We are excited about the opportunities we see for companies at the core of our investment philosophy and look forward to further building on our track record of delivering superior returns to our investors.”

Through its HFCP VIII fund, Hellman & Friedman continues to differentiate itself in the larger end of the private equity market by maintaining a highly focused strategy. The firm is one of a few large scale direct investment firms exclusively dedicated to private equity via a single product. It adheres to a consistent investment philosophy, incorporating deep sector expertise and strong alignment of interests with both limited partners and management teams to achieve results. Through its HFCP VIII fund, the firm continues its investment approach of targeting large-scale equity investments in growth companies with strong and defensible market positions primarily in the US and Europe. It typically targets the service side of the economy, with investments in such areas as software, digital and traditional media, finance, insurance, industrial, energy, healthcare, and business, marketing and information services.

Hellman & Friedman’s most recent acquisition was of supermarket chain Grocery Outlet, in a deal worth over $1.1bn. Current investment targets include a possible bid for the struggling free-to-air broadcaster Ten Network Holdings. “Our focused and differentiated strategy allows us to fully concentrate our resources on finding the highest quality companies and working with their outstanding management teams to accelerate growth,” said Patrick Healy, deputy chief executive of Hellman & Friedman. “We take pride in being the partner of choice for corporations, families and management teams who want to grow their businesses with a dedicated partner with deep industry expertise.”

Fraser Tennant