ACE & Company Bets on Private Markets' Overlooked Opportunities with New ACE Private Equity Platform
ACE & Company has announced the launch of ACE Private Equity, a new platform that consolidates its Independent Sponsors and Secondaries strategies. The company aims to leverage over two decades of experience in private market investing and more than $2.0 billion in assets under management to focus on lower middle market buyouts and secondaries, which are often overlooked by traditional investors.
ACE Private Equity intends to provide specialized capital to underserved markets, particularly within the United States and Western Europe. The company is targeting high-quality businesses with strong fundamentals and identifiable operational improvements. Recently, ACE Independent Sponsors achieved a milestone with the first close of ACE Independent Sponsors IV at $143 million, continuing the success of previous funds.
The ACE Secondaries strategy focuses on acquiring limited partner interests in established private capital funds through smaller, complex secondary transactions. The platform recently completed the final close of ACE Secondary Investments VIII at $95 million, reflecting significant growth over its predecessor fund. The strategy capitalizes on the increasing supply of secondary market opportunities, driven in part by substantial private wealth allocations to alternative investments.
Sherif El Halwagy, Partner and Head of Secondaries, noted that structural challenges in the market have made secondary transactions more attractive. He highlighted the emergence of distribution to paid-in (DPI) pressures as a major influence on transaction activity, creating favorable conditions for investors who possess the necessary scale and expertise.
ACE Private Equity is committed to identifying opportunities in complex and opaque segments of private markets through a disciplined approach, aiming to generate long-term value for its investors and partners. ACE & Company, headquartered in Geneva, operates across several business lines and has established itself as a significant player in the private equity and venture capital sectors.