Wind Point crosses halfway mark on new $750 mln fund

Wind Point Partners is more than halfway toward the $750 million it plans to raise for its eighth flagship fund, the firm’s first since 2009.

Wind Point on Monday filed a pair of documents with the SEC indicating it had raised $434 million. The fund has 44 investors thus far, including commitments from the firm’s general partner group, the filings show.

How much the GP allocated to Wind Point Partners VIII is unclear. The firm could not be reached for comment.

At its target, Fund VIII would be roughly 20 percent smaller than Wind Point’s previous effort, which held a final close on $915 million in 2009.

Since then, firm founders Bob Cummings and Rich Kracum scaled back their roles in favor of a younger generation of dealmakers, who include Managing Directors Nathan Brown, Mark Burgett, Paul Peterson and Alex Washington, Crain’s Chicago Business reported in 2015.

Cummings and Kracum remain active as senior advisers and hold board seats on several of Wind Point’s portfolio companies, the firm’s website says.

Wind Point acquires controlling stakes in mid-market companies with at least $10 million of EBITDA. The firm typically invests $30 million to $150 million per platform, specializing in companies that need new management.

The firm has been very active on the deal front over the past year, acquiring Evans Food Group in April and St. George Logistics in August. Also in August, Wind Point partnered with Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan to acquire the Streetsboro, Ohio, plastics company Aurora Plastics.

Wind Point Partners was founded in 1984. The firm is headquartered in Chicago.

Action Item: More about Wind Point Partners: www.windpointpartners.com

A girl walks her dog on a windy day along the bank of the river Swale near Helperby in northern England on Jan. 3, 2012. Photo courtesy Reuters/Nigel Roddi