River Associates Closes Eighth Private Equity Fund with $345 Million of Commitments

Chattanooga, TN, June 30, 2023

River Associates Investments, L.P. (“River Associates” or “RAI”), a longstanding lower middle market private equity firm, announced the successful closing of its eighth committed capital investment fund, River VIII, LP, with total commitments of $345 million.

River VIII was oversubscribed, and commitments came from well-respected university endowments, public company pension plans, insurance companies and family offices, a number of whom were investors in previous River Associates funds. Consistent with prior funds, the partners of River Associates have also made significant personal capital commitments to River VIII.

River VIII will continue RAI’s 30+ year strategy of control buyouts, in partnership with management teams, of lower middle market companies. River Associates generally targets investments in platform companies with $3-12 million of operating cash flow (EBITDA) located in the U.S. or Canada.  The firm has invested in numerous industries since its founding in 1989.

“Especially given the challenging economic and fundraising environment of 2022 & 2023, we are very pleased with this successful fundraising and are truly thankful for the support of our limited partners,” said Mark Jones, a Partner at RAI.  “The strategy, focus, and people involved in River VIII will remain very consistent with River VII (a $285M fund) as well as our prior funds,” said Mike Brookshire, Managing Partner at RAI.

Since inception, River Associates has invested in 114 companies located in 30 different states and three Canadian provinces. RAI takes an opportunistic approach and invests in a wide array of sectors including manufacturing, distribution and industrial services. In many instances, RAI employs a “buy & build” strategy to grow platform companies via strategic acquisition. The senior leadership is comprised of partners Mike Brookshire, Mark Jones, Patten Pettway, Craig Baker and Jim Baker. The full investment team has over 200 years combined experience working together. The firm prides itself on its management friendly and highly ethical approach towards business.

Gunderson Dettmer LLP served as fund counsel for River VIII, LP. River Associates was not represented by a placement agent.