A Medical Device Daily

Kennet Partners (London), a technology growth equity investor, reported the closing of its third fund, Kennet III, at more than 1200 million ($315 million).

Kennet invests in technology segments, including software, IT services, semiconductors and new media.

Kennet III will continue the current strategy of investing in later-stage technology businesses in Europe and the U.S. The emphasis has long been on growth equity financings and recapitalizations of businesses which are founder-managed and have been developed without significant external capital.

Kennet invests in the U.S. and Europe from a single fund, providing its portfolio companies with unparalleled support as they expand across borders.

"High-growth European technology companies often need to succeed in the U.S. to become global market leaders. Our fund structure and U.S. team can be a significant competitive advantage for our portfolio companies," said Michael Elias, Kennet managing director.

Two investments from the Kennet III fund already have been reported. The first was a 17 million financing of Telemedicine Clinic (Barcelona, Spain), which provides sub-specialized teleradiology services to public and private healthcare providers across Europe.

The second, reported in June, was a 122 million recapitalization and investment led by Kennet into NTRglobal (also Barcelona), a provider of on-demand systems management software. These companies join Kennet's portfolio of businesses with recurring revenue models in a range of high-growth vertical markets.

"Kennet's growth equity strategy is well-timed for the U.S. market, where bootstrapped, founder-led businesses are underserved, since the majority of investment capital is targeted at early-stage venture deals or large buyouts," said Javier Rojas, Kennet managing director in the Silicon Valley region of Northern California.

Investors in Kennet III include Access Capital Partners, Adveq, Alpha Associates, BNP Paribas Private Equity, Capital Dynamics, Crédit Agricole Asset Management Capital Investors, Credit Suisse, European Investment Fund, Finama, LGT Capital Partners and Siemens.