Carmel-based investment firm closes on $250M fund

Carmel-based private equity firm CID Capital has closed on its fourth buyout fund, bringing in $250 million from a combination of returning and new investors.

The fund was oversubscribed, meaning that it attracted more funding than anticipated. CID had set its Fund IV fundraising target at $200 million.

The closing date for the fund was Sept. 20, but CID did not announce the closing until this week.

Also this week, CID announced that firm partners Eric Derheimer and Cory Heck will become co-managing partners effective Jan. 1, with Derheimer leading the firm’s operations. The two will succeed the firm’s current managing partner, Steve Cobb, who will move to the role of senior partner in anticipation of a December 2025 retirement.

Heck, who led fundraising for Fund IV, said the firm was able to attract strong interest from investors because its Fund III investments happened more quickly than expected, and returns from that fund to date have been strong.

The firm’s previous fund, Fund III, had its first close in August 2021 and its final close in August 2022, bringing in a total of $186 million.

Heck said it’s more common for a fund to have multiple closes, bringing in additional funding each time until the fund meets its target. But for Fund IV, he said, interest was strong enough that the firm needed only one closing. “We were just really fortunate,” he said.

About 70% of the dollars in Fund IV came from returning investors, Heck said, with new investors making up the other 30%. The fund’s investors include institutional fund-of-funds, insurance companies, registered investment advisors, endowments and family offices.

CID focuses its investments on U.S.- and Canada-based companies that have annual revenue of between $20 million and $50 million. Its strategy involves making an initial investment of between $15 million to $20 million to take a majority stake in a company. CID then typically makes additional investments in the company to grow it through acquisitions.

The firm invests in companies that operate in the light manufacturing, distribution and industrial services industries. Its current portfolio includes Indianapolis-based cleanup company Midwest Remediation, Rhode Island-based lunch bag maker Fit + Fresh and Florence, Kentucky-based construction supplier Wiseway Supply.

CID is also a former investor in Fort Wayne-based Matilda Jane Clothing and Winona Lake-based industrial manufacturer ABC Industries.