Pamlico Capital, which was formerly called First Union Capital Partners and then Wachovia Capital Partners, is an independent

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

firm focused on

growth capital Growth capital (also called expansion capital and growth equity) is a type of private equity investment, usually a minority interest, in relatively mature companies that are looking for capital to expand or restructure operations, enter new markets ...

and

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money (Leverage (finance), leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of t ...

investments in

middle-market companies A middle-market or mid-market company is one that is larger than a small business and smaller than a big business. Different authorities use different metrics to compare company sizes — some look at revenue, others at either asset size or number ...

in the business services, technology services, telecommunications and healthcare industries. The firm, which is based in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, was founded in 1988 as the private equity investment arm of First Union Corporation. The firm has invested approximately $3.8 billion in more than 200 companies since inception across two funds. The firm is named for the

Pamlico Sound Pamlico Sound ( ) is a large estuarine lagoon in North Carolina. The largest lagoon along the North American East Coast, it extends long and wide. It is part of a large, interconnected network of similar lagoons that includes Albemarle Sou ...

, which is located in North Carolina.

Investments

Among the firm's notable investments are Daxko, Dexter & Chaney, Lightower Fiber Networks, MetaMetrics, Secure-24, Service Express, symplr, TMW Systems and Wilcon.

Spinout from Wells Fargo

Founded as First Union Capital Partners in 1988, the firm served as the

investment arm of

First Union First Union Corporation was a bank holding company that provided commercial bank, commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the Eastern United States, eastern U.S. First Union also provided various other financial services, incl ...

, a commercial bank based in Charlotte. The firm changed its name to Wachovia Capital Partners following the merger of

and

Wachovia Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asset ...

in 2001, under Managing Partner
Scott Perper
currently serving as Head of Pamlico Capital, and Ted Gardner. In 2005
Frederick (Eric) W. Eubank
an
L. Watts Hamrick
among the original partners at conception of First Union Capital Partners, were named Managing Partners of the firm alongside Scott Perper, Chief Financial Office
Tracey M. Chaffin
and Partners: Art C. Roselle, Walker C. Simmons, and Scott R. Stevens; all of whom remain with th
firm
to date. As a captive private equity investment arm, the firm focused on

and

mezzanine capital Mezzanine capital is a type of financing that sits between senior debt and equity in a company's capital structure. It is typically used to fund growth, acquisitions, or buyouts. Technically, mezzanine capital can be either a debt or equity ins ...

investments in

across a range of industries. The firm invested both as the lead investor or an equity co-investor alongside other

financial sponsor A financial sponsor is a private equity investment firm, particularly a private equity firm that engages in leveraged buyout transactions. Sponsors and management In addition to bringing capital to a deal, financial sponsors are expected to brin ...

s. During the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, the firm's parent, Wachovia was acquired by

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...

, which had an existing private equity platform, ''Norwest Equity Partners''. In March 2010, the firm completed a spinout from Wells Fargo.

Pamlico Capital Funds

In October 2013, Pamlico Capital closed Fund III at $650 million, well-exceeding the original goal of $500 million. Pamlico Capital III is the first fund raised after the spin-out from Wells Fargo in 2010. While previous Funds had a majority investment from the financial institution, Pamlico Capital III exclusively includes outside investors: AlpInvest Partners, Constitution Capital Partners, GE Pension Trust, HarbourVest Partners, affiliates of Hartford Investment Management Company (HIMCO), HOOPP Capital Partners (the private equity arm of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan), John Hancock Financial Services, SCM Strategic Capital Management, AG and TIAA-CREF. Three years later in November 2016, Pamlico Capital closed Fund IV at the hard cap with total commitments of $910 million. Pamlico Capital IV (PC IV) raised its capital in only four months, was oversubscribed and significantly exceeded the original $750 million target. In February 2020, the firm closed its fifth fund, Pamlico Capital V (PC V). PC V was well oversubscribed with demand from existing and new investors materially surpassing the original $1.25 billion target. As with Pamlico’s previous funds, PC V will seek equity investments of $25 million to $125 million in growing companies with total enterprise values of between $50 million and $350 million.

References

External links

Pamlico Capital
(company website) {{Wells Fargo Private equity firms of the United States Wells Fargo Financial services companies established in 1988 Companies based in Charlotte, North Carolina