Sagard Credit Partners has secured more than $706 million (US$545 million) in committed capital for its debut debt fund, according to a news release.
SCP, part of Sagard Holdings, an affiliate of Canada’s Power Corp, exceeded its original target size of about $648 million (US$500 million).
It did this with the help of several institutional investors, among them Manitoba’s Civil Service Superannuation Board and Investment Management Corp of Ontario.
They join limited partners that backed the fund’s first close earlier in 2018, including anchor investors Power Corp and Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan.
SCP said the fund’s hard cap is about $778 million (US$600 million). It is expected to remain open for additional commitments until the end of 2018.
SCP launched last December to lend directly to family- and founder-owned mid-market companies, both private and public, looking to grow, make acquisitions, manage successions and meet other goals.
Deal opportunities are sought across Canada and the United States.
To date, the fund has made five investments. They include last month’s US$250 million financing of Just Energy Group, a Toronto provider of electricity, natural gas and renewable energy, which SCP led.
SCP is led by Managing Partner and CIO Adam Vigna.
Vigna was recruited to Sagard’s debt group in 2016 from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, where he was head of global principal credit investments. He was CPPIB’s point man on the 2015 acquisition of Antares Capital for US$12 billion.
Based in Montréal, Power Corp is a holding company controlled by Canada’s Desmarais family. Paul Desmarais III is Sagard’s executive chairman.