MS+PARTNERS has closed the first close of its debut pan-European buyout fund, raising close to €150m toward a €300m target. The fund was backed by the European Investment Fund and a roster of blue-chip institutional investors.

The firm was co-founded by Managing Partner Stanislas de Joussineau, former 13-year veteran of KKR, where he established the European impact private equity business. Fellow Managing Partners Alex Pitt and Henry Wigan bring experience from Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, BCG, and Mubadala. The eight-person team is supported by senior advisers including former partners of KKR, Hellman & Friedman, and McKinsey.

MS+PARTNERS targets profitable Western European businesses with enterprise values between €50m and €500m, focusing on three themes: industrial technology and energy transition, circularity and resource efficiency, and human capital and essential services. Returns are intended to come from operational value creation, international expansion, and bolt-on acquisitions.

The fund has already completed two deals: Spain's leading online vocational education platform i LERNA, acquired alongside Jacobs Capital, and Norway's Maritime Robotics, a developer of autonomous sea drones. The firm expects to announce further investments in the second half of 2026, drawing on a proprietary pipeline across Western Europe.