Archer Capital Plans $1.2B Fund

Australian buyout shop Archer Capital is planning to raise $1.27 billion in a new fund later this year, Reuters reported. The firm will likely be in the market for its Archer Fund 5 in the final quarter of 2011. Archer has roughly 2 billion Australian dollars under management, and its current fund is about two-thirds invested.

(Reuters) – Archer Capital, one of Australia’s top four private equity firms, is planning a new buyout fund with a target of raising A$1.2 billion ($1.27 billion) towards the end of the year, Managing Partner Peter Wiggs told Reuters.

“We’re probably going to be in the market for Archer Fund 5 in the final quarter of calendar 2011, somewhere between September and November is when we will be launching,” Wiggs said in a telephone interview on Friday.

Archer Capital’s current buyout fund, Fund 4, is about two-thirds invested and targets firms with an enterprise value up to A$1 billion. With around A$2 billion in funds under management, Archer’s companies include accounting software firm MYOB and Ascendia Retail, the owner of the Rebel Sport chain.

The fund, which closed in 2006, raised A$1.4 billion after its initial target of A$1.2 billion was oversubscribed.

Earlier this week, Archer acquired a majority stake in V8 Supercars Australia, a rare recent success for private equity firms in the local market after two deals by U.S. buyout firms were rejected. For details, see [ID:nL4E7GH04M]

Wiggs also said Archer was part-way through a fundraising for its smaller Growth Capital Fund 2, and had raised A$200 million since the start of April. The growth fund, which invests in businesses worth up to A$100 million, is targeting a close of A$250 million.

(Editing by Balazs Koranyi)