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

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...

firm focused on

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

and

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money (leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loan ...

investments in

middle-market companies Authorities provide differing definitions of the middle-market or mid-market companies. While some authorities look to revenue generated by companies to define the middle market, other sources regard either asset size or number of employees as a bet ...

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

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, was founded in 1988 as the private equity investment arm of

First Union Corporation First Union Corporation was a bank holding company that provided commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the eastern U.S. First Union also provided various other financial services, including mortgage banking, credit card, inv ...

. 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 lagoon in North Carolina which is the largest lagoon along the North American East Coast, extending long and 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 km) wide. It is part of a large, interconnected network of lagoon estuaries that in ...

, 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 and retail banking services in eleven states in the eastern U.S. First Union also provided various other financial services, including mortgage banking, credit card, inv ...

, 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 asse ...

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 In finance, mezzanine capital is any subordinated debt or preferred equity instrument that represents a claim on a company's assets which is senior only to that of the common shares. Mezzanine financings can be structured either as debt (typicall ...

investments in

across a range of industries. The firm invested both as the lead investor or an

equity co-investor An equity co-investment (or co-investment) is a minority investment, made directly into an operating company, alongside a financial sponsor or other private equity investor, in a leveraged buyout, recapitalization or growth capital transaction. In ...

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 bring ...

s. During the

financial crisis of 2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

, the firm's parent, Wachovia was acquired by

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

, which had an existing private equity platform,

Norwest Equity Partners Norwest may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Norwest Corporation, a bank based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that operated from 1929 to 1998 * Norwest United, an Association Football Club in Auckland, New Zealand * Norwest Venture 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 Investment banking private equity groups Financial services companies established in 1988 Companies based in Charlotte, North Carolina