Los Angeles, California – Avante Mezzanine Partners is pleased to announce that it held a final closing of Avante Mezzanine Partners SBIC II, LP. Within six months of launching fundraising, Fund II was oversubscribed by 33%, and closed with a total of $250 million of capital commitments, including leverage from the Small Business Administration. Fund II received strong commitments from new and existing investors including pension funds, family offices, banks, and other institutional investors.
Avante will pursue the same investment strategy for Fund II as it did for its inaugural fund – providing total debt solutions and junior capital to high quality, lower middle market businesses with $3-15 million in EBITDA. Avante invests between $5 million and $25 million of capital in the form of unitranche or one-stop debt as well as traditional mezzanine debt and minority equity. Avante works with private equity and independent sponsors in buyout transactions, as well as with entrepreneurs and owners to finance recapitalizations, refinancings, acquisitions, and growth.
“My partners and I are grateful for the overwhelming support we received from our existing investors and are excited to welcome many new limited partners to our fund,” said Jeri Harman, Managing Partner & CEO of Avante. “We continue to believe that the lower middle market presents an attractive opportunity to invest junior capital and generate superior risk-adjusted returns for our investors.”
“We are thrilled and humbled to have the support of such a diverse group of institutional and family office investors who enabled us to raise our fund above target,” said Ivelisse Simon, the Partner at Avante who led the fundraising effort. “With Fund II officially closed, our plan is to continue to leverage our strong market reputation and longstanding relationships, creative and responsive approach to the market, and disciplined investment selection process to build an attractive portfolio of debt and equity investments.”