– Sienna Private Equity is a value-oriented mid-market European manager and a new initiative seeded by GBL (Groupe Bruxelles Lambert).
– The firm recently announced that its inaugural fund, Sienna Private Equity Fund I, has reached €400 million in commitments from investors.
– Sienna Private Equity focuses on investment opportunities across Europe, with a primary focus on France and Italy.
– The team targets buy-and-build platforms and high-quality businesses in complex transactional contexts.
– The initiative is led by Vincent Catherine, Hugo d’Avout d’Auerstaedt, and Bastien ROLEAU, all three of whom were previously at Oaktree Capital Management.
– Alessandro Fogo and Andrea Cavallina, both from Investindustrial, recently joined to lead the firm’s Italian presence.
– After a first closing in January 2024, with anchor capital provided by cornerstone investor GBL, a second closing was completed during the summer with tier-one institutional investors and family offices.
– Investors added over €125 million of new commitments, alongside close to €100 million of co-investments secured on the first two seed assets, bringing total commitments to over €400 million.
– The fund is currently seeded with two portfolio companies, EIGHT ADVISORY and ECT.
– Sienna Private Equity is also in exclusive discussions for additional transactions expected to close by year-end, offering potential co-investment opportunities for its partners.
– The firm is close to reaching its target fund size and plans to hold its final closing between the last quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025.
– Houlihan Lokey is acting as an advisor in the fundraising process.
– Co-founders Vincent Catherine and Hugo d’Avout expressed enthusiasm for deploying capital in the current environment, noting stabilizing interest rates, lower valuations, and increasing deal flow.
– Alessandro Fogo emphasized the fund’s fit for the Italian market, characterized by primary lower mid-market opportunities.
