Juggernaut returns to market with $450 mln Fund IV

Juggernaut Capital Partners is back on the fundraising trail less than two years after closing its third flagship fund above its $350 million target.

The firm’s fourth flagship fund is targeting $450 million, roughly 20 percent more than the $380 million raised through Fund III, an SEC filing shows.

Los Angeles County Employees’ Retirement Association, an anchor investor in Fund III, is weighing a commitment to Fund IV at its April 11 Board of Investments meeting.

Juggernaut specializes in acquiring middle-market companies in the business services and consumer sectors. Its portfolio includes stakes in Mitchell & Ness, which makes throwback sportswear, and Norwegian water brand Voss.  

The firm’s leadership consists primarily of Allied Capital Corp alums, including Founder and Managing Partner John Shulman, Managing Directors Craig Hille and Chuck Dieveney and Principals Alex Deegan and Benton Lee.

“For 15 years, be it at Juggernaut or our previous firm, we’ve had fundamentally the same strategy,” Shulman told Buyouts in a 2016 interview. “Mitchell & Ness, as an example, looks very similar to another company in Juggernaut I, Amerex Group, which has been a very big success.”

Fund III, which is still relatively early in its investment period, was netting a 9.6 percent internal rate of return and 1.1x multiple as of Sept. 30, California Public Employees’ Retirement System says. CalPERS committed a little less than $8.7 million to Juggernaut III through a separate account with GCM Grosvenor.

Juggernaut declined comment.

Action Item: For more on Juggernaut, visit juggernautcap.com

Members of the Gruppo Storico Romano (Roman Historical Group) dressed as centurions perform in front of Colosseum as they mark the 2769th anniversary of the founding of Rome on April 24, 2016. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi