Firms & Funds

May River, with Wynnchurch, Valor pedigree, eyes up to $300 mln for sophomore fund

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Commonfund Capital, private equity, venture capital, survey
The confluence of Cheekye River and Cheakamus River in Squamish, British Columbia. laughingmango/iStock/Getty Images

May River Capital, formed by executives from Wynnchurch Capital and Valor Equity, is targeting $250 million for its second fund, sources with knowledge of the firm told Buyouts.

May River Capital Fund II has a $300 million cap, one of the sources said. Fund II will likely be oversubscribed, the source said.

The Chicago firm closed its debut fund on $170 million in 2017. The firm invests in lower middle market industrial businesses with the potential for further growth. It looks for founder-owned businesses where it will be the first institutional capital, according to the firm’s Form ADV.

Chip Grace, Steve Griesemer and Dan Barlow formed May River in 2012. Grace formerly worked at Wynnchurch from 2000 to 2011. Griesemer was a partner at Baker McKenzie focusing on M&A in middle market to multi-billion dollar deals. Barlow formerly worked at Valor Equity from 1998 to 2010.

Grace and Barlow did not respond to a comment request Wednesday.

May River made four pre-fund investments in Hi-Tech Holdings; Industrial Valve Holdings; Pride Engineering Holdings; and Pack Component Holdings, the Form ADV said.

In September, May River acquired Kason Corp as part of its Advanced Material Processing platform, focused on material processing equipment for sectors like food and beverage, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and chemical. The platform also includes Marion Process Solutions.

Also in September, May River exited its investment in GCM, which it formed in 2014 by combining GCM Medical, OEM, Inc., and Global Contract Manufacturing as part of its Hi-Tech Manufacturing platform.

Emerging manager fundraising has been sluggish this year, compared to prior years. So far, newer funds have raised $45.1 billion to date, according to Buyouts data.

Other newer funds in market this year include Gallant Capital Partners, formed by two ex-Gores Group executives; Bookend Capital Partners, launched by an ex-TSG executive; and Crest Rock Partners, formed by ex-Marlin Equity executives.

Action Item: Check out May River’s Form ADV here: https://bit.ly/2ovnAeh