Atlantic Bridge raises funds of €85m

ATLANTIC Bridge (ABVEN), has raised €85 million in funding for technology focused companies.

The private equity firm is unique among recent new funds in Europe and combines a middle market technology focus backed by an investment team with operational experience.

This fund will target the huge opportunity in Irish and European middle market technology assets, a sector that has strong growth potential but is currently undeserved by both private equity and the banking sector.

The fund will invest primarily in late-stage venture capital, growth equity, expansion capital and small to mid-sized buyouts.

It will target assets in the communication technology, semiconductors and software sectors, where Atlantic Bridge has a lot of expertise. ABVEN manages in excess of €250m.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe, commenting on the fund said Atlantic Bridge II is the ninth fund supported by Government through Enterprise Ireland’s Seed and Venture Capital Programme 2007-2012.

This latest round of funding “contributes to the ongoing development of the venture capital sector in Ireland”, Mr O’Keeffe said.

“I would like to congratulate Atlantic Bridge on their success in attracting such a broad range of investors in making this new fund a reality,” said the Minister.

The fund will invest amounts of between €5m and €20m in middle market technology companies.

It expects also to consider companies in the US that have a sizeable Irish and European presence or substantial plans to expand into Europe.

The new fund is backed by leading institutional investors, including the European Investment Fund (EIF), the National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF), Enterprise Ireland (EI) as well as a number of private individuals.

Brian Long, Atlantic Bridge General Partner said: “We are very pleased to be among the few European technology funds that have achieved a first close in the last 18 months, in what is a very challenging financing environment.”

“We see a lot of attractive investment opportunities from multiple sources in Ireland and Europe, many of which fit with our investment thesis and are available at historically attractive valuation levels,” he said.