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Englefield Capital tops up debut fund with high net worth capital

Englefield Capital, the European mid-market private equity firm set up by former Warburg Pincus professional Dominic Shorthouse and Switzerland-based Cofra, has announced the close of its debut fund with commitments totalling E700m.

The Englefield Fund held an initial close on E660m in January, which included a E495m commitment from Cofra. Additional institutional investors include AXA Private Equity, the Dutch Shell Pension Fund and Delta Lloyd.

Englefield has raised the additional E40m from its Affiliates Fund, which has secured commitments from approximately 150 high net worth individuals, including Harvey Goldsmith, Chris Ingram and Dermot Smurfit.

The firm will focus primarily on investments of between E20m and E50m in mid-market UK, French and German companies. Current areas of interest include business services, particularly outsourcing and recruitment, renewable energy and retail financial services.

‘Our strategy is to stay small, and to focus on attractive sectors where we have identified strong management teams that will benefit from favourable fundamental trends in the sector in which they operate,' said Shorthouse.

The firm's advisory board will consist of founding partners Louis Brenninkmeijer and Yves de Balmann, both of Cofra subsidiary Bregal, as well as Professor Tim Congdon of Lombard Street Research, Professor Ronald Frohne of German law firm Norr Stiefenhofer Lutz and Sir David Frost, broadcaster and businessman.

Ed McKinley of Warburg Pincus, Edwin Kunkels of Stichting Shell Pensioenfonds, Paul Myners, retired chairman of Gartmore Investment Management, Lord Robertson, secretary General of NATO and Sir John Rose of Rolls Royce will also take seats on the board.

‘We are delighted that such an august group has agreed to serve on our advisory board,' commented Shorthouse. ‘While they do not have fiduciary responsibility, they will provide key strategic insights to our investment philosophies and guide us in determining which sectors and countries are likely to benefit from favourable “following winds”.'

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