LNK Partners, a private equity firm focused on investing in the consumer/retail sector, announced the final closing of LNK Partners, L.P., with $400 million in committed capital from leading institutions, university endowments, and senior industry executives.
The new fund was oversubscribed at its original target of $275 million, and was capped by LNK at $400 million of outside commitments.
LNK’s founding partners have invested in, operating, or serving on the boards of premier consumer and retail businesses, such as Staples, Inc., Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation, Panera Bread Company, Life Time Fitness, Inc., Star Markets, Inc., and Denny’s Corporation, among others.
LNK also is distinguished by the high degree of flexibility in the type and structure of its investments, and its willingness to be a minority or majority shareholder. LNK expects to invest in a broad range of investment types, including growth capital, buyouts and recapitalizations.
The firm expects to invest $20 million to $100 million of equity per transaction, with the ability to underwrite and lead substantially larger investments given its investors’ appetite for co-investments.
LNK was founded in late-2005 by David Landau, the former head of the US consumer/retail group of private equity firm Apax Partners; Henry Nasella, the former President of Staples and CEO of Star Markets; and Bruce Klatsky, the former CEO of Phillips-Van Heusen.
The firm’s senior investment team includes principals Jeff Perlman and Chris Frigon, and vice president Kayvan Heravi, all of whom have significant experience investing in the consumer/retail sector and have worked with LNK’s founding partners in the past.
LNK will partner with the existing management teams of consumer/retail companies to help them realize their growth plans by leveraging LNK’s proven operating expertise and extensive industry relationships.
“Few, if any, investment firms can support management teams with the broad capabilities that we have developed,” said Nasella. “As former operating managers who have successfully run private-equity financed, growth-oriented companies, we are able to bring a unique perspective to the management teams that we back.”