The First Closing of EOS Hellenic Renaissance Fund II (“EOS II Fund”), has been successfully completed. EOS II Fund is a private equity fund that aims to invest in Greek SMEs and MidCaps, i.e. businesses in their growth stage with up to €100 million annual turnover and up to 500 employees, thus significantly enhancing entrepreneurship in strategic and extrovert sectors of the Greek economy. The EOS II Fund is managed by EOS Capital Partners AIFM (“EOS Capital Partners”), a company licensed and regulated by the Hellenic Capital Markets Commission.
The initial committed capital of EOS II Fund (First Closing) is €219 million, while it is eventually expected to reach €250 million, with the total Assets Under Management of EOS Capital Partners amounting to approximately €400 million.
Investors in EOS II Fund comprise of 70% leading domestic and international institutional investors, including the Hellenic Development Bank of Investments “HDBI” as well as the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, and 30% prominent Greek entrepreneurs and family offices. It is noted that 75% of the total committed funds come from investors who also participated in EOS I Fund.
An important competitive advantage for EOS Capital Partners is the high level of expertise of its executives, who have many years of international and domestic investment experience and deep knowledge of the Greek business and financial market. The investment team has been further strengthened with 5 new executives who have significant knowledge and international experience in Private equity fund management. The added value of EOS Capital Partners to the portfolio companies is further enhanced with our operational know-how in various sectors of the Greek and international business market.
The additional characteristics of the newly established EOS II Fund compared to EOS I Fund are summarized as follows: i) The size and number of potential investee companies is significantly increased, as the EOS II Fund will invest in companies with a turnover of up to €100 million and with a staff of up to 500 employees (for the EOS I Fund the corresponding figures are up to €50 million turnover and up to 250 employees). ii) The average investment per company will amount to €22- €23 million compared to €11 million for EOS I Fund. (iii) Τhe EOS II Fund investments will include, in approximately 70% of the cases, majority holdings, either by the Fund on its own or with the participation of other strategic investors and in 30% of the cases, minority holdings. In EOS I Fund, this ratio was inverse with 70% of investments relating to minority holdings.
Following the First Closing of EOS Hellenic Renaissance Fund II, Apostolos Tamvakakis, Managing Partner of EOS Capital Partners, noted: “We are delighted that the First Closing of the EOS II Fund has been completed. We warmly thank both existing and new investors, who have trusted us. The significantly enhanced team of EOS Capital Partners will honor this trust. The successful course of our investments to date proves the added value and the multiplier effect of private equity and venture capital in the Greek economy. The EOS I Fund, having completed its Investment Period in December 2023, and within an average portfolio holding period of only 25 months, has so far created 1,550 new jobs and has increased the cumulative turnover of its portfolio companies by 108% and EBITDA by 74%. These results were not only achieved by the capital invested but also by our involvement in the improvement and enhancement of operations, the decision-making processes and corporate governance, while also contributing in strategy setting and M&A planning and execution”.