New fund established by Centre Partners execs

A middle-market private equity fund has been established by two former Centre Partners Management executives.

Managing partners Robert Bergmann and Scott Perekslis will lead Bregal Partners L.C., which has USD 500 million of committed capital. Based in New York, the fund will focus on control-oriented investments in numerous North America industries, including food.

Bergmann and Perekslis worked together at Centre Partners for more than 20 years, most recently serving as senior partners. Centre Partners owned San Diego-based Bumble Bee Foods for two years until it sold the canned tuna company to London-based Lion Capital in late 2010. (Lion Capital owns Findus Group.)

Perekslis is also a board member of Seattle-based American Seafoods.

“The opportunity to create a new fund within a strong global platform in conjunction with a supportive capital partner and a longtime friend and colleague is both compelling and energizing,” he said. “As we look forward to this new endeavor, Bob and I remain appreciative of our relationships with our longstanding colleagues at Centre; we greatly value our experience there over the past two decades, and we look forward to continued successful collaboration with them in the future.”

“After a long and rewarding career at Centre, I am excited to be embracing this new challenge with Scott and our new partners at Bregal,” added Bergmann. “We share a clear vision of how to build a successful private equity business with staying power through market cycles, and we look forward to putting capital to work in the months ahead.”