Wynnchurch Capital specializes in investing in middle-market companies.

Wynnchurch Capital, L.P. announced the closure at hard cap of its fifth private equity fund after receiving $2.277 billion in commitments. The fund was launched in September with a target of $1.6 billion, and received a solid oversubscription.

According to Crain’s Chicago Business, the firm raised just $1.2 billion in 2014 for its fourth fund. By that measure, the current raising is almost double. Managing Partner John Hatherly attributed the progress to a great team and a track record of top quartile performance.

Hatherly founded Wynnchurch in 1999.

Wynnchurch private equity

Wynnchurch is a leading middle-market private equity firm with a North American geographic focus, specializing in complex transactions. These include corporate carve-outs, underperforming businesses, growth situations, and family businesses in transition.

The firm currently has $4.2 billion of capital under management. It focuses on

• aerospace, defense & government,
• building products & materials,
• consumer & food, energy,
• natural resources & infrastructure,
• manufacturing, industrial & transportation, and
• business services & distribution.

Investors in the firm’s fifth fund include state pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, insurance companies, corporate pension plans, investment advisors and family offices.

Operational focus

Chris O’Brien, Managing Partner, said, ​“We are excited about Fund V and how our team is positioned today to invest with the same value-oriented/operationally focused strategy we have developed and refined over the last 20 years.”

The firm’s Henniges Automotive transaction is an interesting example of this strategy. In 2007 Wynnchurch purchased the North American operations of Metzeler Automotive Profile Systems, a manufacturer of engineered vehicle sealing systems. It followed that up with the acquisition of the assets of GDX Automotive in the same year. It combined the two businesses under a new leadership team to form North America’s largest and the world’s second-largest supplier of vehicle sealing systems.

Over the next three years, Wynnchurch transformed the business, now known as Henniges Automotive, into a world-class automotive supplier with a diversified low-cost manufacturing footprint and industry-leading engineering expertise.

Wynnchurch agreed to sell the company in October of 2010 and closed on November 30, 2010.

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