News
Generali Growth Equity Fund has raised EUR 65 million commitments within less than a year
Generali Investments, the manager of Generali Growth Equity Fund, a private equity fund, has successfully raised EUR 65 million commitments from domestic and international investors, reaching the maximum possible amount of capital.
Generali Growth Equity Fund has attracted commitments from a diverse range of investors feeling confident about the Fund’s mission, including major Slovenian and international institutional investors—especially pension and insurance companies—and individuals ranking among qualified professional investors. Generali Growth Equity Fund, a private equity fund, invests in small and medium-sized companies with strong growth potential, offering them support for growth financing, capacity expansion, sales network building and new product development as well as the acquisition of competitors and management of succession matters. Its investment portfolio currently consists of three investee companies, all of which demonstrate a sustainability focus, a high level of technological development, keeping up with the latest trends and an extraordinary growth potential.
Luka Podlogar, the President of the Management Board of Generali Investments, says: “We are very pleased to see investors recognising the growth potential and the relevance of the private equity fund industry for SMEs. This is especially true in these insecure times where a stable ownership structure can sustain and support companies in their smooth business development. Despite having great ideas and ambitious teams, many businesses are unable to use their full potential during such challenging times as witnessed today, due to a lack of stable financing. The current state aid schemes and banking solutions are either inappropriate or offer insufficient support for such companies. We are happy to have the backing of our investors and to be able to successfully develop the private equity fund industry in Slovenia, contributing to appropriate financing and an environment favourable for the development and growth of the generator of the Slovenian economy – i.e. small and medium enterprises.”
Simon Mastnak, Director of Private Equity, comments: “We are grateful for the strong support provided by our investors, especially in the present unique market environment. Generali Growth Equity Fund was established to help Slovenian business stars on their way to growing into global winners, and the current market situation clearly shows what an invaluable role we are playing. As a responsible co-investor, we wish to work with—which we are already doing—ambitious entrepreneurs desiring to bring their success stories to a higher level. The Fund has successfully completed its first half-year having three high-potential companies in the portfolio, and we are excited about the next chapter.”
Generali Growth Equity Fund is a special investment fund managed by Generali Investments, Slovenia’s oldest management company with subsidiaries in Croatia and North Macedonia. At the end of the first half-year of 2020, Generali Investments managed over EUR 1.1 billion of assets (in UCITS funds, alternative investments funds and discretionary mandates) raised from 51,000 private and institutional investors.
Generali Growth Equity Fund was founded in 2019 as part of the Slovene Equity Growth Investment Programme (SEGIP), which was launched upon the initiative of the SID Bank in cooperation with the European Investment Fund (EIF). It offers equity and quasi-equity financing to Slovenian SMEs and mid-cap companies. The SID Bank committed to contributing EUR 50 million of its own funds to this programme (without state guarantee), and the EIF has provided an additional EUR 50 million under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (with EFSI guarantee). By mobilising additional funding from other private investors through the SEGIP programme, overall investments for Slovenian companies could exceed EUR 150 million, which is 3-times the contribution of the SID Bank.