Midwest Growth Partners Fund III closes on $170m

Midwest Growth Partners has closed its third flagship vehicle on $170 million, making it the largest fund the Iowa-based firm has raised.

MGP invests in food and agriculture businesses that are either trying to structure their succession planning or companies seeking growth capital.

The firm specializes in supporting US lower mid-market businesses in agriculture, manufacturing and distribution industries, which are mainly located in rural and underserved areas in the Midwest.

Fund III was launched in Q2 2022 and builds on MGP’s sophomore vehicle that closed on $113 million in 2019, and its $41 million debut fund that closed in 2014 – the year the firm was founded.

“If a company was big enough, you would get the attention of the guys from New York and Chicago, but if the company was smaller than what their target was, there just wasn’t very many places for those companies to get succession capital or growth capital,” co-founder and managing partner John Mickelson told Agri Investor following the close of the firm’s second fund in 2019.

Fund III has a five-year investment period and will make between 10 and 15 debt and equity investments worth between $500,000 and $20 million into profitable businesses.

Target companies will have revenues of between $4 million and $100 million. The firm’s existing portfolio of companies includes Maytag Dairy Farms, a producer of artesian blue cheeses; Incorp Holdings, a provider of enabling services for electric generation, agricultural, water treatment and paper facilities, among several other companies.

“Since starting MGP, the achievements we’ve realized here and within our portfolio companies have been remarkable and are the result of working with people who share our values of hard work and integrity. Closing our third and largest fund is a huge milestone, and we’re looking forward to the next chapter,” said Mickelson in a statement.

The statement from the firm added: “Between MGP’s three funds, over $140 million has been directly invested into 29 private businesses. MGP also helped aggregate more than $500 million within those transactions in additional private co-investment capital.”