Mid Europa Closes Fund III

Mid Europa Partners has announced the final close of its third fund, Mid Europa Fund III LP (Fund III) with capital commitments of 1.5 bln eur, making it the largest buyout fund in the region to date.

In addition the Mid Europa team will invest 30 mln eur through the General Partner.

Earlier in October, Mid Europa acquired a controlling 65 pct stake in Austrian mobile operator One GmbH in a joint takeover bid with France Telecom (NYSE:FTE) /Orange, valuing the firm at 1.4 bln eur.

Thierry Baudon, Mid Europas Managing Partner said: We are delighted with the quality and diversity of the investors who committed to our third Fund. With our second Fund already 80 pct invested in less than 24 months, this new investment vehicle will allow us to continue to take advantage of the rapidly expanding flow of quality buyout opportunities in Central Europe.

Fund III was launched in May 2007, with MVision Private Equity Advisers acting as global placement agent.

Mid Europa secured commitments from over sixty leading investors, including AGF Private Equity, Alpinvest, ATP Private Equity Partners, AP2, Auda Private Equity, AXA (NYSE:AXA) Private Equity, Caisse des Depots et Consignations, CAM Private Equity, Citigroup (NYSE:C) , European Investment Bank, Feri, Government Investment Corp of Singapore, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) Asset Management, HarbourVest, MetLife (NYSE:MET PRA) (NYSE:MET PRB) (NYSE:MEU) (NYSE:MLG) (NYSE:MET) , OP Trust, Pantheon, TIAA, and Unigestion.

Approximately 28 pct of commitments have come from pension plans, 24 pct from fund of funds, 19 pct from banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions, 16 pct from government-related entities and international financial institutions and 13 pct from endowments and foundations.

European and North American investors account for 50 pct and 36 pct of total commitments respectively, with the balance of 14 pct coming from the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions.

Mid Europa will typically invest between 50 mln eur to 200 mln eur in cash-flow generative companies with enterprise values of up to 1 bln eur. Mid Europa currently advises and manages funds with committed capital of approximately 2.6 bln eur.

Alexander.Wessendorff@thomson.com