European enterprise software investors Main Capital Partners announced today that Main Capital IX and Main Foundation III have together closed over €5.25 billion in commitments. Main Capital IX closed at a hard cap of €4 billion, and Main Foundation III reached a hard cap of €1.25 billion, together representing a more than twofold increase over their predecessor funds and increasing Main’s total Assets under Management to over €12 billion.
Main received continued support from its existing LP base, with a re-up rate exceeding 120 per cent. Alongside re-ups from existing investors such as Hamilton Lane, both funds also attracted meaningful new commitments from a broadened global institutional investor base.
New investors primarily came from the United States, Asia, and the Middle East, and comprised sovereign wealth funds, public pension funds, and insurance companies, including reputable names such as the State Teachers' Retirement System of Ohio, the Korean Teachers’ Credit Union, and AkademikerPension. Over the course of its history, Main has realised 38 exits, with a weighted-average gross return of 4.7x and a loss rate well below 0.5 per cent.
The Firm has an active focus on the transformation that AI is bringing to the Enterprise Software industry. It contends that AI is rapidly reshaping how software is built, sold, and scaled, creating a new frontier of growth opportunities across Main’s core product-markets, from healthtech and govtech to infrastructure and proptech.
Main has approximately 100 employees operating out of its offices in The Hague, Düsseldorf, Stockholm, Antwerp, Paris, and an affiliate office in Boston.
Main will continue to execute on its proven lower mid-market Enterprise Software strategy, investing equity tickets between €5 and €150 million in profitable, resilient software businesses and building these into larger, scalable cross-border software groups through a combination of organic growth and targeted M&A.
Main will maintain its deep focus on its core geographies — Benelux, DACH, the Nordics, France, and North America — and, as a meaningful strategic expansion, will begin actively pursuing platform investments in the United Kingdom with these new funds.
According to Charly Zwemstra, Founder and Chief Investment Officer at Main, the Firm was among the first movers in European software buyouts:
“For more than two decades we have built an unrivalled track record of creating larger, more resilient software groups from the lower mid-market. Securing commitments for Main Capital IX and Main Foundation III of over €5 billion is a powerful validation of our strategy and of the enduring trust that our LP base places in us.
We stand at an inflection point for the Enterprise Software industry: we believe AI is unlocking a new wave of growth and value creation opportunities, and Main’s deep sector expertise, proprietary data capabilities, and disciplined operational approach position the firm well to capture this opportunity for our portfolio companies and our investors alike.”
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