Apiary Capital closes first fund at hard-cap

Apiary Capital (“Apiary”), a new UK lower mid-market private equity firm, today announces the final close of its debut fund, Apiary Capital Partners I. The fund closed at its hard-cap with commitments of £200 million, exceeding the initial target of £150 million after being significantly oversubscribed.

“This is a significant milestone for Apiary Capital, having closed our maiden fund at its hard-cap and within a short time frame.”

Mark Salter, Managing Partner, Apiary Capital.

Following a successful and rapid fundraise, the fund was fully allocated within six months of its launch.

Apiary is targeting companies in the business services, education and healthcare sectors in the UK’s lower mid-market. Apiary seeks to acquire platform companies in attractive market segments, subsequently driving transformational growth through a combination of roll-ups, roll-outs and strategic mergers.

The firm was founded by Mark Salter, who was previously a Senior Partner at Bowmark Capital where he spent 16 years investing in UK lower mid-market businesses. Apiary is based in London where Mark is joined by Partner Nicki Boyd, formerly of Inflexion Private Equity, and Partner and COO Nikola Sutherland, previously of Bowmark Capital. Origination will be led by Rob Simpson, who previously held roles at Sovereign Capital and August Equity.

Apiary Capital Partners I has been backed by a range of blue chip, institutional investors comprising endowments, foundations, pension funds, insurance companies and funds-of-funds from across the US, the UK and Continental Europe.

Mark Salter, Managing Partner at Apiary Capital, commented: “This is a significant milestone for Apiary Capital, having closed our maiden fund at its hard-cap and within a short time frame. Apiary Capital Partners I has a clear investment strategy and we can now look forward to putting its capital to work. Indeed, we have already identified a number of high-quality investment opportunities in our target sectors of business services, healthcare, and education, and are in advanced discussions with several of them.

“Furthermore, we look forward to building long-term relationships with our investors over the coming years as we execute our strategy and build our investment portfolio.”

Apiary Capital was advised by Rede Partners, an independent fund raising and secondaries adviser to the private equity industry. The legal advisers in connection with the fundraising were Proskauer.