DALLAS & CLEVELAND–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Align Capital Partners (“Align” or “ACP”) is pleased to announce the closing of its inaugural independent sponsor focused investment fund, Align Collaborate Fund I, LP (“Collaborate I” and, together with ACP, the “Firm” and, such strategy, “Align Collaborate”). The strategy, which launched in late 2023, provides equity capital to the industry’s growing number of deal-by-deal investors. Collaborate I had its final close on March 26 at $233 million, well above its $150 million target.
To date, Align Collaborate has anchored the equity syndicate for two leading sponsors’ new platform investments and the team has expanded to five dedicated investment professionals, led by Partners Grant Kornman and Michael Kornman. Align Collaborate targets $10–$30 million equity investments per transaction in support of platform companies with between $2–$15 million of EBITDA.
Align Collaborate is designed to complement ACP’s Private Equity fund strategy and the Firm’s collective commitment to helping lower-middle market companies achieve their ambitious growth targets. Since its founding in 2016, the Firm has raised approximately $1.8 billion in committed capital and closed 122 total acquisitions.
“We are constantly looking for ways to innovate, yet stay true to our lower-middle market investing roots, and we believe Align Collaborate is a great addition to the Firm,” said Align Co-Founder and Managing Partner Rob Langley.
“We created the equity solution that we ourselves sought, but could not find as independent sponsors, and the market response in our inaugural year has been humbling,” said Grant Kornman. As an early indication of the team’s impact, Align Collaborate was recently named Capital Provider of the Year and received the Innovation in Deal Structuring award by a panel of industry experts and prior winners at iGlobal’s Independent Sponsor Summit.
Capstone Partners served as the exclusive placement agent for Collaborate I and Kirkland & Ellis LLP provided legal counsel.
