Australia's Vantage achieves first close on fund-of-funds
Vantage Asset Management has reached a first close of A$20 million ($15.2 million) on its third Australia-focused fund-of-funds. The vehicle, which launched in February 2016, has an overall target of A$100 million.
Vantage Private Equity Growth 3 (VPEG3) will develop a diversified portfolio of middle-market managers in Australia, offering smaller investors exposure to a segment they might not otherwise be able to access. The firm’s first fund closed at A$43 million in 2005 and it was followed by a A$100 million fundraise in 2013.
Approximately 25% of the capital in the first close came from individuals participating under Australia’s significant investor visa (SIV) program, which is designed to attract overseas investment and provide a streamlined pathway to permanent residence for business people. Individuals become eligible after four years’ residency, conditional on deploying at least A$5 million into approved assets, including at least A$500,000 in domestic venture capital or growth private equity funds.
“The balance of investors are Australian high net worth individuals, self-managed super funds and family offices who have invested in Vantage’s previous funds, VPEG1 and VPEG2, as well as new investors seeking to gain access to the high performance, growth private equity, asset class in an otherwise low return environment,” Michael Tobin, managing partner at Vantage, said in a statement.
Vantage has previously invested in funds managed by the likes of Advent Partners, Archer Capital, Catalyst Investment Management, Crescent Capital Partners, Next Capital, Quadrant Private Equity, Mercury Capital, and Allegro Funds. These funds had made 57 investments as of June 2015 and completed 24 exits, generating a multiple of 3.13x and a weighted average gross IRR of 32.5%.
VPEG3 has a target net IRR of 20% and is expected to have considerable exposure to growth sectors such as healthcare, consumer, education and tourism. Norton Rose Fulbright served as fund formation counsel for the vehicle.
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