The European investor has achieved closes on two funds investing in tech-oriented and sustainable businesses in quick succession, gathering more than €2bn in total commitments between them.
Private equity investor Verdane said its Edda III fund, focused on investments in firms that further digitalisation and decarbonisation in Europe, had closed at a “significantly higher” level than its €1.1bn target.
Commitments to Edda III include those from private and public pension funds, university endowments, foundations, insurance companies and family offices, with 40% of the total coming from non-profit organisations, the Oslo-based investor said.
With this close, Verdane has attracted more than €2bn to its funds over recent months. Last September, it said its Freya XI fund had closed at its €1.1bn target level. In total, Verdane funds hold over €6bn in commitments and have made over 400 investments since the company was founded in 2003.
Verdane funds take majority or minority positions in companies, or act as a liquidity provider to owners of unlisted portfolios. It has backed 19 European businesses over the last year and plans to continue to invest in European companies that help digitalise and decarbonise the economy via equity investments ranging from €20m to more than €50m. It says it takes a long-term view of its investments, requiring the firms in which it invests to meet the requirements of its “2040 test”, which is intended to establish whether a company can operate successfully in a more sustainable future economy.
Investment focus
Current holdings highlighted by Verdane include Evondos, an automated medicine dispensing services for older home care clients, and Hornetsecurity, a provider of cloud-based cybersecurity services to business customers globally. It has also invested in companies that were subsequently sold, including Norwegian vitamin producer Kappa Bioscience, which was acquired by Balchem in 2022, and Swedish-based garden tools company HYMA, acquired by BHG Group in 2021.
Frida Einarson, a partner and head of investor relations at Verdane, said the company’s ability to close two funds that raised over €2.2bn within six months reflected the strength of its longstanding relationships with its limited partners (LPs).
“The Verdane platform, our thematic focus and proven value creation recipe have enabled us to consistently deliver strong financial returns to our investors, and we will endeavour to continue doing so,” she said.
The company says more than two thirds of investors in its first fund of 2003 remain backers of its current funds. It also says its investor base has diversified geographically, with 25% of commitments to the Edda III fund coming from US investors, while 70% of LPs across all its funds are now based outside the Nordic region.
Verdane is a B Corporation with a staff of some 140 people based around Europe. Its funds are structured as Danish limited partnerships or Swedish limited liability companies, with older funds domiciled in Denmark and more recent funds domiciled in Sweden.
