Executives at new London-based private equity firm Mayfair Equity Partners LLP had lousy timing — they raised Mayfair's first fund during the U.K's vote to exit the European Union.
But while Mayfair's fundraising story had a happy ending — with Mayfair Equity Partners Fund I LP closing in September with £400 million ($518.5 million), exceeding its £350 million target — the effort was not without a good deal of drama.
Mayfair's founding partners Daniel Sasaki, Waqqas Ahmad, Bertie Aykroyd and Kunal Dasgupta began raising the fund in late 2014, holding the fund's first close in April 2015. Mayfair makes buyout and growth capital investments in technology and consumer companies.
The date for the Brexit vote was announced in February “which slowed down any discussions in (the first half of 2016) as you can imagine,” said Mathieu Drean, managing partner of Paris-based placement agent Triago, which assisted with fundraising, in an e-mail.
By June 23, the day of the Brexit vote, Mayfair already had collected nearly £300 million, but it wasn't easy.
“For the few months before and after the (June) vote, it obviously took quite some convincing to get investors on board,” Mr. Drean said.
Ultimately, the fund “generated a lot of momentum,” he added. Mr. Drean declined to provide the percentage of total fund capital committed by Mayfair.
Investors in the fund include £49 billion Universities Superannuation Scheme, London.
