Corsair targets $1 bln for fifth financial services fund

Corsair Capital is targeting $1 billion for its fifth fund, according to people with knowledge of the process. There is no cap on the pool, the people said.

Corsair filed a Form D fundraising document in July without listing a target amount. The firm raised about $863 million for its 2010-vintage fourth fund. It raised $1.1 billion for its third fund, its first after spinning out from JP Morgan in 2006. 

Corsair was established in 1992 as JP Morgan’s buyouts arm. The firm is principally owned by Maximillian Management LLC, which is owned by Nicholas Paumgarten and Managing Partner D.T. Ignacio Jayanti, the firm’s Form ADV shows. E. Mervyn Davies, former U.K. minister for trade, investment and small business, is chairman of Corsair.

The firm invests in wealth and asset management, payments and fintech, banking and specialty finance, insurance and services. Corsair looks for companies with $100  million to $500 million in enterprise value while making fund investments of $50 million to $100 million, the firm said.

Last year, Corsair made a 2.1x return on its investment in United Community Banks Inc after the firm and its LPs anchored a $380 million recapitalization of the Blairsville, Georgia, company in 2011. The firm last year acquired Realtime Electronics Payments, or Repay, for an undisclosed amount. Corsair acquired Repay from New Capital Partners, Buyouts reported.

Earlier this year, the firm promoted James E. Kirk to managing director. He had worked at the firm since 2004 as a principal and a member of the investment committee.

Action Item: Corsair’s Form ADV: http://bit.ly/2k3XpsA

Corsair Capital Chairman E. Mervyn Davies. Photo sourced from Corsair website.