Gauge Fund IV Oversubscribed at $1.4 Billion
Gauge makes control and shared-control investments of $20 million to $100 million in North American-based companies that have from $5 million to $40 million in EBITDA
By John McNulty
Gauge Capital has held an oversubscribed closing of its fourth fund, Gauge Capital IV LP (Fund IV), with $1.4 billion of capital commitments.
In aggregate, members of Gauge Capital are the largest investor in the fund and represents over 25% of the committed capital. The firm’s earlier fund, Gauge Capital III LP (Fund III), closed in January 2021 with an oversubscribed $800 million of commitments.
Gauge Capital makes control and shared-control investments of $20 million to $100 million in North American-based companies that have from $5 million to $40 million in EBITDA and $40 million to $250 million of enterprise value. Sectors of interest include business services, food and consumer, government and industrial services, healthcare, and technology. Typical transaction types include buyouts, recapitalizations, divestitures, privatizations, consolidations, and growth capital investments. Gauge Capital is headquartered near Dallas in Southlake, Texas.
Fund IV has not yet closed on any platform acquisitions but is pursuing several opportunities. However, a recently closed Fund III transaction was the January 2024 add-on acquisition of volleyball equipment brand Tachikara USA by RIP-IT, an Orlando-headquartered athletic equipment and footwear company that specializes in designing and selling softball, volleyball, and soccer products used by female athletes. RIP-IT has been a portfolio company of Gauge Capital since November 2022.
In August 2023, Fund III established a new platform with the buy of Craftable, a Texas-based SaaS company serving the hospitality industry. Craftable’s software is used by operators in the hospitality, food, beverage, and entertainment industries to increase revenues and reduce costs by connecting purchasing, recipes, inventory, sales, accounting, and data analytics. According to Craftable, users of the company’s products can boost revenues while also lowering pour costs by 3% to 5% and food costs by 2% to 3%. Today, more than 50,000 monthly active customers use the company’s SaaS products.
Ropes & Gray provided legal services to Gauge Capital for the raising of Fund IV.
© 2024 Private Equity Professional | March 12, 2024
Harken Capital Securities, LLC (member FINRA, SIPC) served as a placement agent and Ropes & Gray LLP provided legal counsel to the Fund.
For more information, please visit www.gaugecapital.com.