Kinderhook closes Fund 7 at $1.85B

Kinderhook Industries, New York City, has announced the final closing of its seventh, and largest, private equity fund—Kinderhook Capital Fund 7 L.P. According to a news release, the fund closed at $1.85 billion in capital, inclusive of over $250 million in commitments from the general partner, operating partners and affiliates.

Fund 7 brings Kinderhook’s total committed capital to over $5.4 billion.

“Kinderhook remains committed to the same disciplined, replicable and value-oriented approach to investing in the lower middle market, targeting the health care services, business services/environmental and light manufacturing/automotive verticals. Fund 7 will employ the same management-focused strategy that has been the cornerstone of the firm’s success for nearly 20 years,” says Chris Michalik, a managing director at Kinderhook.

Tom Tuttle, a managing director at Kinderhook, adds, “We are excited to continue to invest in the lower middle market on behalf of our expanded investor base and will seek to continue our success in building dominant companies in market niches. Consolidation has played an important part in our success; across our 76 portfolio companies, we have completed 274 follow-on investments. Once built, these consolidated companies have generally proven to be attractive targets to strategic buyers, with 39 of our 45 realizations sold to strategic buyers.”

Rob Michalik, a managing director at Kinderhook, says, “We received tremendous support from our longtime limited partners who have been investing with Kinderhook for nearly two decades and from new limited partners who embraced Kinderhook’s strategy. We are very grateful for the conviction and support from the limited partner community. In particular, we would like to thank our extensive operating partner network that not only manages and supports our portfolio companies but also made a significant capital commitment to Fund 7. We believe our ability to raise Fund 7 is a testament to the strength of our team, the consistency of our investment strategy and our successful track record.”

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is Kinderhook’s fund counsel and served as legal adviser on the Fund 7 capital raising campaign. UBS Securities LLC acted as the exclusive placement agent for Fund 7.