EUROPE - The Augur FIS Financial Opportunities II fund has made its first investment, acquiring LRI Invest, the Luxembourg-based investment company of Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LLBW).

The news comes only months after Augur Capital - a private equity firm with investments in the European financial services industry and focusing on German-speaking countries - announced a successful first closing for the fund, with €71.8m.

LRI Invest is an investment and fund administration company that launches and administers investment funds for banks, insurance companies and independent asset managers from German-speaking countries.

It specialises in giving small and medium-sized asset managers access to the investment fund business in Luxembourg.

The sale of LRI Invest came as part of a larger restructuring plan under which the EU demanded a detailed restructuring plan from LBBW before approving government-funded capital measures.

The target size of the Augur FIS Financial Opportunities II fund is set at €250m, while the hard cap is set at €300m.
 
Augur Capital said the first closing and first investment for the fund came at a time when there had been a "remarkable increase" in quality deal-flow in its "sweet-spot" of small and medium-sized transactions.