Swiss-headquartered private markets investor ACE & Company has launched ACE Private Equity, a dedicated platform combining its independent sponsors and secondaries businesses.
The firm is looking to expand its presence across lower middle-market buyouts and LP-led secondary transactions through the move, which brings together strategies that collectively manage more than $2bn.
ACE said it would focus on fragmented areas of the private equity market where specialist sourcing and long-standing relationships are key to originating transactions.
The launch follows recent fundraising milestones across both strategies. ACE said its Independent Sponsors business completed the first close of ACE Independent Sponsors IV at $143m, while ACE Secondary Investments VIII held a final close on $95m, approximately 80% larger than its predecessor fund.
Rob Callahan, partner and co-head of Independent Sponsors, said, “By bringing our capabilities together under one identity, we are strengthening our ability to provide specialist capital to underserved markets while continuing to source high-quality opportunities and drive long-term value creation for investors.”
The Independent Sponsors strategy partners with independent deal sponsors investing in lower middle-market businesses across the US and Western Europe, targeting companies with operational improvement opportunities and proprietary deal flow.
ACE’s Secondaries strategy focuses exclusively on LP-led transactions, acquiring interests in mature private capital funds through smaller, less intermediated secondary deals.
Sherif El Halwagy, partner and head of secondaries at the firm, said, “Secondary market supply has become structural, with DPI pressure emerging as the number one driver of transaction activity.
“This dynamic is creating an attractive environment for investors with the scale, relationships, and underwriting discipline to capitalize on high-quality secondary opportunities.”
According to ACE, the strategy is designed to target smaller secondary transactions where liquidity providers may face less competition from larger secondary market participants.
ACE & Company, which was founded in 2005, operates across private equity, venture capital and investment solutions, with offices in Geneva, Zurich, London, New York and Cairo.
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