Australis Partners closes debut fund to invest in growing Latin American companies

Private equity firm Australis Partners has raised $379 million in capital commitments for the firm’s first fund, called Australis Partners Fund LP. The fund seeks to make control investments across the Pacific Alliance region in Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile.

Australis Partners Fund will target middle-market companies with at least $100 million in enterprise value and businesses that “benefit from infrastructure expansion and development,” according to Australis Partners’ managing partner Enrique Bascur. The fund received capital from investors in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Australis Partners is an independent PE firm established in 2014 by a group of former senior investment professionals from Citigroup Venture Capital International: Bascur, Alex Manzo, Cristián Celis and Juan Pablo Pallordet. Manzo, a partner at Australis, has previously noted that due to the growth of the middle class, Mexico and surrounding markets are brimming with opportunities for private equity firms.

Other middle-market fund raises include: Steadfast Capital Markets Group establishing a direct lending credit fund with Alcentra NY LLC; Private Advisors’ closing its fourth co-investment program; CVC Capital Partners’ $18 billion fund to target U.S. and European investments; the Riverside Co.’s first minority investment fund in April 2017; The Carlyle Group’s (Nasdaq: CG) fourth distressed capital raise; Vector Capital’s fifth PE fund; Monroe Capital LLC’s $800 million credit fund; and NXT Capital LLC’s fourth debt fund with $900 million. In 2016, the Carlyle Group (Nasdaq: CG) closed its fourth CLO fund at $507 million and Littlejohn's Wellfleet closed a $406 million fund.