Washington considers pledge to Leonard Green’s debut mid-market fund

Washington State Investment Board’s Private Markets Committee recommended four investments last week ahead of the Board’s scheduled meeting Thursday.

The investments included one to the private equity asset class and three to the tangible assets class, totaling up to $600 million.

The private equity investment is:

• Up to $200 million to Jade Equity Investors, L.P., a North American middle-market fund managed by Leonard Green & Partners.

This would be the fifth fund from Green in which WSIB has invested. Earlier this year, Buyouts reported that Green had launched its eighth fund, which had a $10 billion target and a $12 billion cap, as well as a smaller, $2 billion small-cap fund, which is the Jade fund.

Hamilton Lane, the Board’s consultant, also recommended this commitment.

The Board had a $21.8 billion private equity portfolio as of Mar. 31.

The tangible assets investments are:

• Up to $100 million plus fees and expenses to Ecosystem Investment Partners IV, managed by Ecosystem Investment Partners. This fund has a $350 million target, according to a federal filing. EIP is a private investment manager with over $500 million in assets under management, focused on “large-scale ecological restoration and conservation,” according to its website.

• $100 million plus fees and expenses to EIP Alki Partners, LLC, a separately managed account with Ecosystem Partners that allows the Board to invest alongside other EIP funds;

• And up to $200 million to Sprott Private Resource Streaming, LP, targeting “income focused investments in the mining sector.”

“Tangible assets” are “non-financial assets having physical substance that are used in the production or supply of goods and services,” according to the Board’s website. Its portfolio in this class is $4.86 billion as of Mar. 31.

Washington State Investment Board had $134.7 billion in assets under management as of Mar. 31.

Action Item: Check out the Board’s meeting agenda here.