(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s alternatives unit is leading a consortium investing in a $540 million continuation vehicle created by venture capital firm NEA, according to people familiar with the matter.
The VC firm contributed stakes in 11 of its companies — including startups Databricks, Plaid and Tempus AI Inc. — to the vehicle.
The transaction, which enables NEA to give its limited partners some liquidity, also features investors including Industry Ventures, Pathway Capital Management and Goanna Capital, the people said. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s private capital group advised on the transaction, they said.
Databricks and Plaid comprise about 38% and 10% of the vehicle, respectively, the people said.
Other companies in the vehicle are Strive Health, Built Robotics, Automation Anywhere, Instabase, Collective Health, National Resilience, Echodyne and Everside Health.
All in, the deal was priced at a roughly 19% discount to NEA’s internal marks, some of the people said. The firm’s internal marks include Databricks and Plaid at $46 billion and $8 billion, respectively.
Representatives for NEA, Jefferies, Goldman, Industry Ventures, Pathway Capital Management and Goanna Capital either declined to comment or didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Amid a lull in exit activity, alternative-asset managers — especially those focused on venture and private equity — have faced heightened pressure to distribute cash to institutional investors such as pension funds and endowments.
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