Norwegian private equity firm Verdane has announced the successful final close of Verdane Edda III with €1.1 billion, past its target. In the past six months, it has closed two funds totalling over €2.2 billion, including the €1.1 billion Freya XI fund, which was closed in 2023.
Investors in Verdane
Edda III includes commitments from private and public pension funds, leading global university endowments, foundations, insurance companies and family offices. 40% of Edda III commitments come from non-profit organisations. 68% of LPs from Verdane’s first fund established in 2003 continue to back current Verdane funds. Verdane’s LP base is increasingly international, with 25% of commitments to Edda III coming from US investors. Across all Verdane funds, 70% of LPs are now headquartered outside of the Nordics.
The Edda series of funds has already made three successful realisations, including Kappa Bioscience to Balchem in 2022 and HYMA to BHG Group in 2021.
Focus on decarbonisation
Verdane will continue to invest in leading European companies that help digitalise and decarbonise the economy. Verdane has consistently deployed capital in these two structural growth megatrends, backing 19 leading European businesses over the past 12 months. Verdane’s largest portfolio companies alone have already created well over 13,300 jobs during their holding period.
Verdane invests between €20 and over €150 million in equity tickets. With the most flexible mandate in the market, Verdane funds can take majority or minority positions, or act as liquidity providers to owners of unlisted portfolios.
Companies backed by Verdane benefit from a robust platform to support their growth. Verdane’s portfolio companies are further supported by Elevate, Verdane’s in-house team of operational experts, who offer dedicated expertise in go-to-market strategy, product, technology, finance, talent, and sustainability.
Current holdings of the investor
Current holdings of Verdane include the following:
- CAIA Cosmetics, which is one of Northern Europe’s fastest-growing beauty brands.
- Evondos, a leader in automated medicine dispensing services for elderly home care clients.
- Hornetsecurity, which provides cloud-based cybersecurity services to business customers worldwide.
Aligning with its goal, Verdane also supports its portfolio companies in improving their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) credentials. This enables businesses to become more sustainable than before.
Frida Einarson, Partner and Head of Investor Relations at Verdane, said: “Verdane’s ability to close two funds past target in six months, raising over €2.2 billion, is testament to our longstanding dialogues and relationships with our LPs. We are grateful for the strong backing from our LP base. The Verdane platform, our thematic focus and proven value creation recipe have enabled us to consistently deliver strong financial returns to our investors, and we will endeavour to continue doing so.”
Bjarne Kveim Lie, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Verdane, said: “There has never been a better time to partner with ambitious companies that seek to digitise and decarbonise the European economy. We’re immensely proud to be pioneers in our field and of our 20-year track record. The close of the Edda III fund cements our position as a European mid-market growth leader. Verdane investors value our relentless focus on long term structural growth trends, our north star of being the preferred partner and our combination of deep local networks and world-class thematic knowledge. We are humbled by the continued trust placed in us by our investors and will do our utmost to deliver against their high expectations.”
