Australia's Anchorage closes Fund IV on $327m

The fund was launched last year with a target of AUD 500m. The final close amount came from a source close to the situation. That source added that the close happened on October 31 and the AUD 505m total includes a AUD 15m GP commitment.

Anchorage said in a statement that the LP base includes superannuation funds, pension funds, fund-of-funds, and endowments. They are largely Australian, although Asia, the US, the Middle East, and Europe are also represented.

Fund III closed on AUD 360m in 2017, with Australian institutions, including Vantage Asset Management, accounting for 40% of the corpus. US-based Eversource Retirement Plan Master Trust was also an investor in Fund III. Anchorage raised AUD 200m for its debut fund in 2010 and AUD 250m for a sophomore vehicle in 2013.

Fund IV focuses on operational improvement and special situations, targeting control positions in companies seen as performing below potential. There have been at least three investments to date, including Australian department store David Jones, New Zealand childcare provider Evolve Education, and New Zealand home nursing service Access Community Health.

Access Community was carved out from pharmacies and clinics operator Green Cross Health in February for an enterprise value of NZD 50m (USD 30m), while Evolve was bought for NZD 46m in September last year. With David Jones, Anchorage was able to acquire the world’s oldest department store and one of Australia’s most prestigious and recognised brands for about AUD 100m last December.

“I think the death of the department store is being called too early,” Simon Woodhouse, a managing partner at Anchorage who co-led the latest fundraise, told AVCJ following the David Jones deal. “This business had been for sale for a long time and had gone through a number of sale processes. You have a bruised seller that wants to make sure it gets done this time.”

Anchorage brands itself as Australia’s only dedicated manager across special situations and operational turnarounds. It seeks active partnerships with companies with enterprise valuations up to AUD 250m and at least AUD 100m in annual revenue across Australasia and Southeast Asia. Managed commitments amount to more than AUD 1bn across funds and co-investments.

Fund IV follows a string of at least five exits in the past two years. This includes the sale of Australian rolling stock leasing company Rail First Asset Management in September last year for AUD 425m. As of the Rail First exit, Anchorage had delivered a gross multiple of 4x and a weighted average net IRR of 50% across 14 realised investments.

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Fundraising
• Credit/Special Situations
• Buyout
• Australia
• Anchorage Capital Partners
• Distress