Bowmark VII was launched with a target of £800 million and experienced significant demand from both existing and new investors. The fund achieved a rapid first close in October 2023 and held a final close at its hard cap within just three months of the first closing. The speed with which the fund was raised in an otherwise challenging fundraising environment, and the significant investor demand in excess of the fund’s hard cap, are indicative of Bowmark’s consistently strong investment performance across multiple economic cycles.
Bowmark Capital Partners VII was supported by 31 institutional investors, with 48 per cent of the capital coming from Continental Europe, 37 per cent from North America, 7 per cent from the UK and 8 per cent from other countries. Overall, pension funds committed 32 per cent and insurance companies 21 per cent, with 20 per cent coming from funds-of-funds, 17 per cent from other financial institutions and 10 per cent from endowments, foundations and family offices.
The fund will continue Bowmark’s proven strategy of active investment in high-quality, high-growth businesses in four core areas of the technology sector: data and insight, managed IT services, software, and technology-enabled business services.
Charles Ind, managing partner, commented: “We are immensely grateful to our investors for the confidence they have placed in us, especially in such a tight year for private equity allocations, and for their support in enabling the fundraising to be completed so efficiently.
Along with Bowmark Growth Partners, our fund focusing on smaller companies, we now have over £1 billion of dry powder available for new investment, at what we believe will prove to be a very attractive time to invest in mid-market companies – driven by a recovering economy and the long-term growth drivers of technology, digitisation and outsourcing. We are excited at the opportunities ahead and look forward to continuing to partner with enterprising management teams in the business services and technology sectors to help them realise their growth ambitions.”
PJT Park Hill acted as the exclusive placement agent for the fundraising and Kirkland & Ellis acted as legal counsel.