Certior Capital focuses on co-investments in latest European small-cap private equity fund

Certior Private Equity Fund III (CPEF III), a Finnish limited partnership, has recently held a first close supported by a group of leading Finnish institutional investors including pension funds and family offices. The new fund will focus on value investing across Europe, particularly in German-speaking Europe and the UK.

CPEF III will mostly invest in co-investments plus some opportunistic primary fund commitments. The fund will provide first time institutional capital to support reinvesting founders and entrepreneurs to build their businesses to the next level. The small cap segment offers significant opportunities for off-market deals at low valuations and low leverage levels. A focus on active value creation through consolidation and operational improvements in these companies can then lead to highly profitable sales to both financial and trade buyers.

“Our private equity portfolios are quite different to those of other managers”, comments Ari Jauho, the Chairman of Certior Capital. “We deliberately concentrate on segments where inefficiencies are high and alignment is above average and the likelihood of outsized returns is therefore higher”.

“The sponsors we invest alongside are often made up of industry veterans looking for a more flexible deal-making environment with an “every deal counts” mentality which focuses squarely on performance fees not management fees”, adds Timo Hara, Partner and Founder at Certior Capital. “This can include independent sponsors, search funds and ETA (entrepreneurship through acquisition) managers, for example”.

The Certior team has experience in >100 co-investments and has sourced >100 potential co-investment opportunities in the past 12 months alone. The new fund will be open throughout 2027. Borenius in Helsinki is providing legal advice to Certior Capital.

About Certior Capital

Certior Capital is a Finnish alternative investment fund manager specialising in European private equity and private credit. The firm’s core expertise is in Europe’s lower- and mid-market private equity and private credit markets, where the team’s experience is one of the longest in Europe. It focuses on undercapitalised market segments, partnering with new and emerging managers and co-investments. Certior Capital manages three distinct series of funds for institutional investors: Certior Private Equity Funds, Certior Special Opportunity Funds and Certior Credit Opportunity Funds. In September 2026 Proprius Partners agreed to acquire the business operations of Certior Capital. The transaction is expected to be completed in January 2027.

For further comments or additional information please contact:

Timo Hara: timo.hara@certiorcapital.com  Tel: +358 50 52 77 639