San Mateo backs Great Hill VI, ABRY in Q1

San Mateo County Employees’ Retirement Association in the first quarter inked a pair of commitments to private equity, including a $20 million allocation to Great Hill Partners’ sixth flagship fund. The commitments were disclosed in the $3.7 billion pension system’s June meeting materials.

Great Hill held a final close on $1.5 billion for Fund VI in February. The Boston firm will use Fund VI to acquire middle-market companies valued at $25 million to $500 million.

The new fund was more than a third larger than Great Hill’s fifth fund, which held a final close on $1.1 billion in 2015. The firm’s recent deals include PartsSource, which procures medical devices for hospitals, and Reflexis, a software platform for retail-company management.

San Mateo also approved a $7 million commitment to ABRY Partners’ new senior equity fund, which is targeting $1.05 billion. Buyouts has reported the firm was facing overwhelming demand for the new fund, which will provide between $20 million and $90 million of senior equity financing to companies.

ABRY’s previous senior equity fund, a $950 million 2012 vintage, was netting an 11.45 percent internal rate of return through Sept. 30, a Maine Public Employees’ Retirement System document shows.

San Mateo County held roughly 6.4 percent of its assets in PE, short of its 7 percent target for the asset class. The retirement system valued its PE portfolio at a little more than $251 million as of Dec. 31. The portfolio was netting a 19.29 percent IRR as of year end.

Action Item: More about San Mateo County ERA: www.samcera.org

Surfer Joao Demacedo at Martin’s Beach, a popular surfing and fishing spot, in Half Moon Bay, California. Photo courtesy Reuters/Robert Galbraith