Avista said to near end of secondary that will inject capital into new fund

Avista Capital Partners is near wrapping up a multifund sale of limited-partner interests that includes a shot of fresh capital into its pending fourth pool, two secondaries-market sources told Buyouts.

Coller Capital is leading an investor group that is buying fund interests from existing investors, one of the sources said. The pricing of the tender offer is not clear, but one source described it as “robust.”

Rory King, a spokesman for Coller, did not respond to a request for comment.

UBS is running the tender-offer process. Secondaries Investor wrote about the deal earlier.

It’s not clear when the process will be finalized but sources described it as nearing finalization. Daniel Yunger, a spokesman for Avista, did not return a request for comment.

Avista, which managed about $5.2 billion in assets as of December 2016, filed a Form D for Fund IV in January 2016. Sources told Buyouts last year that the firm was targeting $1 billion, though a third source said the goal had been lowered to $750 million.

It’s unclear whether the fresh capital that is part of the tender offer will come solely from the new investors, or whether existing LPs will kick in new commitments. Staple transactions help boost fundraising processes with a shot of capital that can attract other LPs into new funds.

Fund IV is expected to focus mostly on healthcare, along with consumer and industrial. The firm backed away from energy investments because those deals dragged down returns in Fund III, Fortune has reported.

The principal owners of Avista Capital Holdings are Thompson Dean and David Burgstahler, and with respect to matters involving Funds I, II and III, Steve Webster, according to the firm’s Form ADV. Webster is chief executive of Avista Energy.

Action Item: Check out Avista’s Form ADV here: http://bit.ly/2us948i

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