Kennet Partners
 | |
| Company type | Limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Private Equity |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Headquarters | London, England, United Kingdom Foster City, California, United States |
Key people | Michael Elias, David Carratt, Javier Rojas |
| Products | Private equity funds |
| Total assets | $600 million |
Number of employees | 15 |
| Website | www.kennet.com |
Kennet Partners is a private equity investment firm that provides growth capital to information technology, Internet and business services companies in Europe and the US.
Kennet Partners is headquartered in London, England, and has an office in Foster City, California. The firm raised its third fund in 2008 with €201 million, bringing total capital under management to over $600 million.[1]
Founding / history
Kennet was founded in 1997 as Kennet Capital, a joint venture between technology investment bank Broadview International and asset management firm Electra Partners. In 2000, Kennet became a wholly owned subsidiary of Broadview. Following the downturn in the global technology markets, the partners of Kennet completed a management buy-out and became independent in April 2003.[2]
Kennet's first fund was primarily targeted at early-stage technology investments in Europe. With its second fund, Kennet began making growth equity investments in both Europe and the U.S., and today the firm focuses exclusively on providing growth capital.
Kennet Partners was founded by Michael Elias. The general partners as of July 2012 are Michael Elias, David Carratt, Javier Rojas and Eric Filipek. Maximilian Bleyleben was a previous general partner.[3]
Funds and investments
From founding in 1997 to June 2008, Kennet has raised three funds:
- 1997 Kennet I LP (£48.3 million)
- 2000 Kennet II LP ($204 million)
- 2008 Kennet III LP (€201 million)[4]
Institutional investors in the Kennet III fund include Access Capital Partners, Adveq, Alpha Associates, BNP Private Equity, Credit Suisse, European Investment Fund, LGT Capital Partners and Siemens.[1]
Investments
Kennet is often the first institutional investor in a company and invests in founders that have bootstrapped their companies to $10 million or more in annual sales. Although Kennet focuses primarily on expansion capital, the firm also purchases shares from founders or earlier investors in certain cases.
Since inception, Kennet has invested in over 35 companies,[5] of which, Kennet's most notable exits include Altitun,[6] Paragon Software,[7][8] No Wires Needed,[9] Cramer Systems,[10] Chipidea[11][12] and Adviva Media[13][14]
Other investments include:
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Competitors
Kennet's investment strategy is similar to that of other growth capital investment firms such as Summit Partners, TA Associates and Insight Venture Partners. In Europe, Kennet competes with firms such as Fidelity Ventures, Atlas Venture, Wellington Partners and the growth equity arm of Index Ventures. Competitors in the U.S. include JMI Equity and Summit Partners' Accelerator Fund.
References
- ^ a b "Kennet closes third fund on €200m" AltAssets, July 24, 2008
- ^ UK Kennet Venture Partners spins out from Broadview AltAssets, 31 March 2003
- ^ Company website: Who We Are
- ^ Kennet Partners (Tornado Insider profile)
- ^ Company website:portfolio
- ^ Record Exit for Kennet eFinancial News, 22 May 2000.
- ^ 3i and Kennet sell Paragon of Virtue European Venture Capital Journal, 1 March 2000.
- ^ Phone.com acquires Paragon Software Mobile Info, 11 February 2000.
- ^ Intersil to acquire No Wires Needed EE Times, 27 April 2000.
- ^ Amdocs acquires Cramer Systems for $375 million Telephony Online, 18 July 2006
- ^ Kennet website: Chipidea case study
- ^ MIPS buys Chipidea Silicon Tap, 27 August 2007.
- ^ Specific Media's Adviva Buy Aimed at Behavioral Growth in UK ClickZ, 13 March 2008.
- ^ Specific Media acquires UK-based Adviva Tech news blog - CNET New.com, 12 March 2008.
Further reading
- How Much Bootstrapping Is Enough Javier Rojas, SoftGram 2008.
- A Q&A with Jon Craton, Founder, Cramer Systems Sandhill.com, 14 August 2008.
- How to convert to SaaS Sandill.com, June 2008.
- Bootstrapping, over crowding and capital efficiency: a contrarian view Prakash Muralidharan, Thoughts from the trench, 17 March 2007.
- Have you considered bootstrapping your business for success? Javier Rojas, Opportunity World, July/August 2006.
- Strategic Entrepreneurship: Why it is better to be bootstrapped than well-heeled Jonathan Guthrie, 7 December 2005.
- El Ciclo del Capital riesgo en Europa: Su gestion y aportaction de valor FUNDACIÓN DE ESTUDIOS FINANCIEROS, March 2005.
External links
- Kennet Partners(company website)
- Tornado Insider Profile
- The Funded.com Kennet Partners profile
- PSEPS Directory
- Datamonitor Profile