PRESS RELEASE

27 January 2017 at 10:30 a.m.

eQ Asset Management has a long and successful track record in European private equity investing. eQ PE VII US, the first eQ private equity fund investing in the US, closed in 2015 with 80 million USD of commitments. eQ has just launched its second US vintage. eQ PE IX US fund held first closing on 27 January 2017 with over 45 million USD commitments from 23 limited partners in addition to eQ and RCP. Fund raising continues during the spring and the final closing will be held by the end of June.

eQ PE IX US will make commitments in private equity funds whose strategy is to invest equity capital in unlisted small and mid-sized companies in The United States and Canada. The fund portfolio will consist of approximately ten funds resulting in 100-150 underlying companies diversified in various sectors, geographies and development stages. Like the 2015 US fund, the new fund will be advised by RCP Advisors based in Chicago responsible for selecting investments.  

"eQ's first US private equity fund was fully committed in target schedule. We are very pleased with the cooperation of our strategic partner RCP. The US private equity market is the largest in the world. However, the dispersion of returns between managers is especially wide in the small and mid-sized segment. Therefore, finding the best funds and securing allocations requires an experienced local partner. Our seamless cooperation with RCP enables us to offer our clients access to the best US small and mid-market funds very efficiently", comments Staffan Jåfs, Head of Private Equity at eQ.

"We have over 100 limited partners in our private equity funds. The assets under private equity management were 4.3 billion euros at the end of 2016. We launch new European and US funds every alternate year. The next North European private equity fund will be raised again in 2018", concludes Jåfs.

Helsinki 27 January 2017

eQ Asset Management Ltd

For further information:

Staffan Jåfs, Head of Private Equity, eQ Asset Management Ltd, +358 (9) 6817 8736, staffan.jafs(at)eQ.fi