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UK firm Darwin Private Equity closes debut fund below target on £217m10/09/2008. Source: AltAssets. 
 UK lower mid-market private equity firm Darwin Private Equity has closed its inaugural fund, Darwin Private Equity I, on £217m. The target of the fund was £250m. The fund held a third closing in the first quarter of this year on £207m and a first closing was held in March 2007 after receiving a £50m cornerstone commitment from publicly-quoted investment trust RIT Capital Partners, which is chaired by Lord Jacob Rothschild.
Investors include AIG Investments, Goldman Sachs, LGT Capital Partners, OXIP, Pantheon Ventures and RIT Capital Partners.
Jonathan Kaye, partner, Darwin, said, 'Having secured our funding, recruited our team and completed our first investment, we are looking forward to focusing on new investment opportunities for the fund.'
The firm completed its first investment in December 2007 with the acquisition of sports nutrition company Maximuscle for £75m.
Darwin has also expanded its investment team with the appointment of Katie Beck, previously with Doughty Hanson. The team now comprises eight investment professionals.
Darwin was founded in 2007 by Derek Elliott and Kevin Street, both formerly of Permira, and Jonathan Kaye, formerly of CVC.
Darwin focuses on investing in UK-based businesses with enterprise values of between £10m and £100m.
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