Alpine Closes Fund VIII at $2.25 Billion Hard Cap

[Originally posted on BusinessWire] – Alpine Investors, a people-driven private equity firm committed to building enduring software and services companies, announced today it has completed fundraising for Alpine Investors VIII (“Fund VIII”) with $2.25 billion in limited partner capital commitments. With a target of $1.7 billion, Fund VIII was significantly oversubscribed and reached its hard cap at close, less than four months after its official launch in May.

Alpine more than doubled its previous fund, Alpine Investors VII, which closed in 2019 at $1.0 billion of committed capital. “We are grateful for the support of our returning and new limited partners. The enthusiastic reception of Fund VIII is evidence that the market sees value in Alpine’s focus on recurring revenue-driven software and services businesses,” Alpine Head of Investor Relations and Fundraising April Smith said. “We are gratified that Alpine’s PeopleFirst operating philosophy and focus on talented leaders for our portfolio companies continue to resonate with our investors.”

“We believe our success is a direct result of building a firm around exceptional people and creating a culture where people can build an exciting career for the long term,” Alpine Founding Partner Graham Weaver said. “We are thrilled to see investors’ enthusiasm for Alpine’s strong outcomes and differentiated approach to building leadership teams.”

With Fund VIII, Alpine will continue to focus on putting investor capital to work in control buyouts, transactions that facilitate an ownership transition, and corporate carve-outs of recurring revenue-driven software and services businesses. The firm targets companies with total enterprise values of up to $500 million in its areas of focus and also seeks add-on acquisitions for high-performing platform investments.

Two critical components of Alpine’s PeopleFirst approach are the firm’s CEO-in-Training™ and CEO-in-Residence programs, which place talented professionals trained in implementing the Alpine Playbook in leadership roles at portfolio companies. The over 60 executives associated with both programs are essential parts of the talent pipeline that Alpine will tap for leadership of upcoming Fund VIII investments.

Over the last year, Alpine has completed a number of significant investments, including:

• The formation of ASG III, a platform that acquires and grows vertically-focused SaaS businesses;
• The formation of Evergreen II, a platform that acquires and grows managed services and government services companies;
• The launch of AlpineX, an investment platform that acquires asset-light services companies in the lower middle market ($2 million to $15 million in EBITDA);
• The acquisition of Aspira, which provides connected experiences for the outdoor recreation industry;
• The acquisition of Innovative Systems, a mission-critical enterprise software solution that serves independent cable, telecom, municipal, power, and other utility providers across the country;
• The acquisition of Orion Group, a commercial facility services company that is building a national platform of family-owned HVACR and plumbing providers;
• The continuation vehicle for TEAM Services Group, a family of companies that provides household employment and home care solutions across the United States;
• And the continuation vehicle for Ingenio, an online platform connecting advice-seekers with coaches and advisors.

Since Alpine’s inception in 2001, the firm has made over 300 investments and placed more than 60 leaders in its portfolio companies.

Evercore served as placement agent for the fund and Kirkland & Ellis served as legal counsel to Alpine.

About Alpine Investors

Alpine Investors is a people-driven private equity firm that is committed to building enduring companies by working with, learning from, and developing exceptional people. Alpine specializes in investments in companies in the software and services industries. Its PeopleFirst strategy includes a CEO program which allows Alpine to bring leadership to situations where additional or new management is needed post-transaction. Alpine is currently investing out of its $2.25 billion eighth fund.