The union of DFJ Esprit and Tempo Capital’s secondary investment businesses is a step towards consolidating the European venture capital industry.
DFJ Esprit is merging its venture secondary business with Tempo Capital’s equivalent to form DFJ Esprit Secondaries.
Following the amalgamation the newly formed venture will focus on secondary opportunities in Europe, providing liquidity to founders, angels, VCs and other shareholders.
The new secondaries group will be managed by David Tate and Olav Ostin, managing partners at London-based Tempo Capital, and will have £700 million under management.
Simon Cook, CEO of DFJ Esprit, comments, ‘We are excited to be strengthening our secondaries offering and continuing our efforts to innovate in this space, through this latest merger.
‘Gaining the additional expertise of Tempo’s team will further enhance our ability to be the partner of choice for entrepreneurs, venture managers and LPs in the European venture market, as it further evolves.’
According to a statement, DFJ Esprit Secondaries will work closely with DFJ Esprit’s primary venture team, investing from its newest fund, DFJ Esprit III. Tempo’s workforce will also relocate to DFJ Esprit’s London headquarters.
DFJ Esprit, which is the European arm of Silicon Valley-based DFJ, has previously closed a number of secondary venture transactions including the acquisition of Cazenove’s £234 million fund and the purchase of 3i’s venture portfolio for £170 million.
Tempo’s experience in the sector has come in the form venture capital portfolio acquisitions in 60 countries, including that of Siemens and BNP Paribas.
Tate, managing partner at DFJ Esprit Secondaries, says the with the primary and direct secondary investment markets converging, the result is that scale and breadth of experience will become ‘increasingly important’ in the direct secondaries market.
‘In DFJ Esprit, we have found like-minded partners, who have a positive attitude in the secondary market having successfully closed a number of such deals in the past.’
