Sweetwater Private Equity Closes Oversubscribed First-Time Fund At $350 Million Hard Cap During COVID-19 Crisis

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Oct 06, 2020, 09:01 ET

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sweetwater Investment Management ("Sweetwater" or "Sweetwater Private Equity" (dba)) recently held a final close on its debut multi-client fund, Sweetwater Secondaries Fund II L.P. (the "Fund"). The Fund closed on its hard cap of $350 million of total capital commitments including $20 million from the GP and its affiliates. The oversubscribed private equity fund focuses exclusively on Buyer-led secondary opportunities. Buyer-led secondaries are off-market secondary transactions of private company securities or fund restructures that are targeted and driven by the buyer.

Sweetwater is a leader in Buyer-led secondaries having invested hundreds of millions of dollars in dozens of Buyer-led transactions. "Our Buyer-led secondaries approach allows us to proactively build meaningful positions in targeted companies while driving below-market pricing and eliminating costs from the system," said Mr. James Gamett, Founder & Managing Partner. "Our limited partners view Buyer-led secondaries as an attractive way to access high performing private companies at steep discounts to current market values."

Sweetwater closed on the Fund despite being partially raised when the US economy shut down due to COVID-19. Most of the capital commitments were raised after the economic shutdown. Many limited partners conducted their due diligence virtually with the opportunity set driving final demand well beyond the hard cap. "The Buyer-led secondary market supply has increased dramatically, and few secondary buyers are equipped to access and underwrite these types of opportunities," said Gregg Parise, Managing Partner. "Therefore, the Fund is benefiting from a market that currently allows us to be extremely targeted and selective in building the optimal portfolio."

Sweetwater's senior investment team has diverse operational and principal investment experience. Each member has operated and managed successful companies in a variety of markets. In addition, their collective principal investment activities span private equity, venture capital and hedge fund strategies and several economic cycles.

Cooley LLP served as legal counsel for Sweetwater and Harken Capital Securities served as placement agent for the Fund.

About Sweetwater Private Equity
Sweetwater Private Equity (www.sweetwaterpe.com) is a boutique private equity manager that specializes in niche secondary opportunities. Sweetwater is a leader of Buyer-led direct and fund restructure secondary transactions – transactions where the buyer drives the asset selection and fund restructure process. Sweetwater focuses on venture capital, growth equity and small buyout opportunities with an emphasis in the healthcare, technology, and consumer sectors.

SOURCE Sweetwater Investment Management