Shoreline racks up $300 mln for initial PE fund

Shoreline Equity Partners has closed its debut private equity fund at a hard cap of $300 million, beating its $250 million target. The fund’s limited partners include insurance companies, fund of funds, family offices and high-net worth individuals. M2O Private Fund Advisors LLC was placement agent while Ropes & Gray LLP provided legal counsel to Shoreline.

PRESS RELEASE

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Shoreline Equity Partners, LLC (“Shoreline” or the “Firm”), a purpose-driven lower middle market private equity firm, today announced the final close of its inaugural private equity fund, Shoreline Equity Partners Fund, L.P. Shoreline began fundraising in March, in conjunction with the Firm’s launch, with an initial target of $250 million and was oversubscribed at its hard cap of $300 million in commitments.

“We are very grateful to all of our limited partners for the resounding support and humbled by the overwhelming demand shown through the process,” said the Firm’s Co-Founder Mike Hand. “The entire Shoreline team is excited to work closely with our portfolio company management teams and to continue backing and building leading lower middle market businesses. Our emphasis on doing well by our investors, our management partners and the communities within which our portfolio companies operate has been exceptionally well-received.”

Shoreline received commitments from a prominent group of limited partners including insurance companies, fund of funds, family offices and high net worth individuals. Shoreline’s general partners and its executive network also contributed significant capital to the fund.

“From the onset, Mike and I sought to assemble a diverse investor base with a wide range of investment experiences,” said Co-Founder Peter Franz. “The composition of our limited partners validates our approach and the commitments from our executive network illustrate our relationships with management teams extend far beyond our initial investment partnership.”

M2O Private Fund Advisors LLC acted as exclusive placement agent, and Ropes & Gray LLP provided legal counsel to Shoreline.

About Shoreline
Shoreline is a lower middle market private equity firm focused on actively partnering with leading management teams. The Firm’s goal is to develop and implement collaborative solutions with portfolio company professionals to drive growth as well as scale and optimize operations. Shoreline professionals employ a genuine, egalitarian, and transparent approach to working with companies. The Firm’s model considers a broader set of stakeholders in our decisions with a meaningful portion of the Firm’s profits being contributed to philanthropic initiatives. Shoreline seeks to lead equity investments of up to $100 million per transaction in support of buyouts, recapitalizations, and corporate divestitures.

Targeted businesses typically have enterprise values ranging from $25 million to $250 million and EBITDA of $5 million to $25 million. The Firm strives to partner with management teams of non-capital-intensive businesses primarily within the specialized manufacturing, value-added distribution, and business and industrial services sectors, among others.