Genesis Capital, one of the largest private equity groups in Central Europe, is preparing to launch a new fund, Genesis Private Equity Fund IV (GPEF IV); the sixth private equity fund of Genesis Capital in the 20 years since its establishment. In a similar manner to its predecessors, GPEF IV will also focus on investments into small and medium-sized enterprises with high growth potential in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Austria. The fund’s target size is EUR 150 million and its first closing is expected at the beginning of 2021.
“We are pleased to be able to contribute to the development of businesses in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and neighbouring countries of Central Europe through our private equity funds. We believe that GPEF IV will facilitate growth of at least a dozen Central European companies that will be interested in this type of equity financing,” says Jan Tauber, Chairman of Genesis Capital Equity. “We want the new fund to replicate the attractive performance of our previous funds,” adds Jan Tauber.
“GPEF IV will invest in established companies with a strong growth potential, typically in situations where successful founders are considering suitable successors, or are looking for capital to grow their businesses, expand internationally or invest in innovations, or alternatively in cases where multinational groups looking to divest their non-core business units are searching for a suitable partner. We see a number of opportunities in this segment of the market which itself is growing and becoming more regional, so we decided to launch a new bigger fund to support them” says Ondřej Vičar, Managing Partner at Genesis Capital Equity. When speaking about GPEF IV’s strategy, he notes that “the fund will invest across a wide range of industries, but with preference for sectors where Genesis Capital funds have had a strong historical track record, such as B2B services, light and medium manufacturing, IT services and specialised retail and consumer services.”
Regarding its sixth private equity fund, Genesis Capital will follow the same investment strategy that has proven successful in the past. “We identify suitable investment opportunities using several basic criteria,” explains Radan Hanzl, Partner at Genesis Capital Equity. “First and foremost, the company must have a strong growth potential and demonstrate the ability to formulate and successfully execute its plans. A competent and experienced management team is another highly important factor. We rely on partnership with top executives of the portfolio companies. They usually invest alongside us and share the up-side as well as the risks of the investment,“ adds Radan Hanzl.
“Launching and developing a new fund is a great professional opportunity. We believe that despite the current situation, there are numerous companies with experienced management teams and the ambition of developing their business to a higher level that are at the same time able to efficiently use private equity capital. Our professional investment team at Genesis Capital is ready and looking forward to take on the challenge,” concludes Tatiana Balkovicová, Senior Investment Director at Genesis Capital Equity.