London, October 30, 2002: Coller Capital, the leading global private equity secondaries investment manager, today announced the $2.5 billion final closing for Coller International Partners IV LP (“CIP IV”). This makes CIP IV the largest-ever global secondaries fund and is above the initial target of $1 billion.
CIP IV will like its three predecessors, purchase positions in private equity partnerships and also purchase portfolios of direct investments from sellers who wish to obtain liquidity prior to maturity (“Secondaries”). With no set boundaries in terms of size or geography, it will invest opportunistically in assets purchased from investors around the world. The fund is structured as a ten-year limited partnership advised by a multinational team based in London. Returning investors include CalPERS, State of Michigan, General Motors and Barings (the original sponsor). First-time limited partners include Canadian Pension Plan and Barclays Pension Fund. Of the fund’s commitments, 47% have come from North America, 38% from Europe, and 15% from the rest of the world. The investors include nine US state pension funds, four sovereign investment authorities, and six universities. Six investors committed $100 million or more.
Jeremy Coller, Coller Capital’s Chief Executive Officer, said of the new fund:
“We are pleased to have been selected as the partner of choice by over 150 investors from 20 countries.”
“The capital we will invest on behalf of our institutional investors represents the savings plans of millions of individuals, to whom we feel a huge sense of responsibility.”
“With our capital, investment experience, entrepreneurial spirit, and multinational team, we will continue to implement our strategy of being a one-stop shop for the $1 billion plus portfolios down to the many $1 million positions. We are in an ideal position to be the partner of choice for sellers.”
Rick Hayes, Senior Investment Officer and Head of Private Equity at CalPERS, said:
“We were delighted to reinvest with Coller. They have an exceptional and experienced team who are well-placed to take advantage of market opportunities. Coller stands out among other private equity secondary firms. They are a true leader in the field and have been a strong partner for CalPERS.”
In the last twelve years, Coller raised the first-ever European secondaries fund followed by the first-ever global secondaries fund. Coller’s first large-scale acquisition, in mid-1998, was of the private equity portfolio of the US-based Shell Pension Trust, valued at $265 million. This was the largest secondary transaction ever at the time. In 2000, Coller Capital led (and became the majority investor in) the transaction to purchase the former National Westminster Bank portfolio of private equity interests, involving 292 companies, from the Royal Bank of Scotland. The transaction, which was valued at $1 billion, remains the largest secondary purchase of private equity portfolios in the world to date. More recently, Coller purchased the Lucent corporate venture portfolio direct investments in a joint venture with Lucent Technologies. The portfolio comprised the in-house venture businesses with their roots in Lucent’s famed R&D arm, Bell Labs.
