Juggernaut holds $309 mln interim close

Juggernaut Capital Partners held an interim close on $309 million for its third flagship fund, according to an SEC filing.

The firm set a $350 million target and a $400 million hard cap for Juggernaut Capital Partners III. The fund received substantial backing from the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association early last year. LACERA agreed to commit the lesser of $100 million or 35 percent of Fund III’s total commitments at its January 2015 meeting.

It’s unclear when Juggernaut plans to hold a final close, but it may be circling capital from limited partners in Europe. As it did with its second flagship fund, Juggernaut hired placement agent Jefferies & Company Inc, which has active relationships with LPs in Europe, two market sources said.  

John Shulman founded Juggernaut in 2009 after a nine-year stint at Allied Capital Corp, where he led a team that managed 10 private equity portfolio investments, according to LACERA documents.

Juggernaut invests in middle market business services and consumer products, typically with enterprise values between $50 million and $200 million, according to LACERA documents. Fund III will likely invest in between 10 and 12 companies.

“Juggernaut has an experienced and well-regarded investment team, an attractive investment strategy, and is a good fit as it increases exposure to small buyout funds,” wrote former LACERA CIO David Kushner in a memo.

Earlier this month, Juggernaut yielded a partial return on its investment in bottled water company  Voss, which recently sold a 50 percent stake to China’s Reignwood Group for $105 million, The Wall Street Journal reported. Juggernaut retained a minority stake in Voss and Shulman stayed on as its chairman.

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