For the first quarter of 2008, buyout shops raked in $58.5 billion across 68 funds, according to a Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst report out April 7. Indeed, since the turn of the year, firms have unveiled vehicles of all sizes and stages, targeting various sectors and regions. From middle-market buyouts to distressed investments to growth capital in Asia, fundraising goes on ... even in uncertain dealmaking times. In early May, Bloomberg reported European investors were setting their sights on the U.S. in a big way.
SHAKING THE LP MONEY TREE
Pfingsten Partners LLC
Pfingsten Partners LLC said May 9 it had closed its fourth fund, Pfingsten Partners Fund IV LP, with $525 million in commitments.
PAI PartnersEuropean firm PAI partners capped an $8.3 billion vehicle, it said in early May.
Warburg Pincus
Warburg Pincus April 22 was the latest private equity firm to go big -- the buyout shop announced closing its 10th fund, a $15 billion vehicle that exceeded by $3 billion its initial target.
Advent InternationalEurope's Advent International revealed April 7 a €6.6 billion ($10.4 billion) fund, which it touts as the largest midmarket fund globally. Ten days later, it revealed the final close of its €1 billion Central and Eastern European fund, which far exceeded its €750 million target.
Darwin Private Equity LLP
Darwin Private Equity, a lower midmarket fund that was set up by Permira Advisers LLP and CVC Capital Partners vets, held the third close of its inaugural fund April 10 with £207 million ($409 million). The final close should come within months.
Carlyle Group
Also April 7, Carlyle Group closed its second distressed debt and
corporate opportunities vehicle, Carlyle Strategic Partners II, with $1.35
billion. The fund is nearly twice the size of the firm's first, $652 million, distressed fund.
JC Flowers & Co. LLC-China Investment Corp.
New York buyout shop JC Flowers has reportedly teamed with Chinese state-run sovereign wealth fund CIC on a $4 billion private equity vehicle targeting U.S. financial services investments, according to a Reuters report April 4.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Kicking off May, KKR unveiled a green fund and a partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund. The news came about a month after KKR rounded out March closing its last vehicle at $17.6 billion, but it fell short of a reported $18 billion target.
Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
The Deal's George White noted: "Welsh, Carson, Anderson
& Stowe is in the midst of raising $4 billion for a new investment fund,
the private equity firm's co-founder Russell Carson said off-handedly Wednesday
[March 19] at The Deal's Healthcare Dealmaking Symposium."
Beecken Petty O'Keefe & Co.Rounding out the week of March 17, White also pointed out Chicago
firm Beecken Petty is moving in on the final close of a $650 million healthcare investment vehicle, according to LBO Wire.
Kohlberg & Co.
And Kohlberg & Co. closed its sixth middle-market vehicle with
$1.5 billion March 18.
Bain Capital LLC
Meanwhile, Bain Capital LLC blew past its fundraising target for its
latest, European-focused vehicle, a $5.5 billion pool. Bain bumped the target
from 2.5 billion euro ($3.8 billion) after a heavily oversubscribed March 7 first close,
capping it at 3.5 billion euro, sources told The Deal's Jonathan Braude.
Al Gore's Generation Investment Management Ltd.
Management capped the fund for
companies with an eye toward social responsibility, co-founded by the former U.S. VP, at $5 billion, according to a Bloomberg report March 11.
Levine Leichtman Capital Partners
A LBO Wire report March 11 indicated midmarket firm Levine Leichtman had a $1 billion target for a new vehicle.
SFW Capital Partners LLC
Meanwhile, SFW Capital unveiled its first fund March 11, a $300 million vehicle focused on midmarket healthcare and industrial companies.
New Mountain Capital LLC
Kicking off March, New Mountain Capital LLC closed a $5.1 billion vehicle. The fund eclipses New Mountain's $1.55 billion second fund, which it closed in 2004. As The Deal's David Carey noted, it also lands New York-based New Mountain in a class of upper middle-market private equity firms. New Mountain joins Hellman & Friedman LLC, Kelso & Co., First Reserve Corp. and Silver Lake, whose newest funds have all commanded $5 billion to $10 billion.
Silver Lake
Silver Lake unveiled a $1.1 billion midmarket fund in early May, just weeks after the tech buyout-focused firm reportedly pulled in $9.3 billion for its latest vehicle, well beyond its $7.5 billion target, as peHUB noted.
HitecVision Private Equity AS
Norway's HitecVision Private Equity AS, which concentrates on oil and gas investments, also closed a new, $800 million vehicle, far beyond its $600 million goal.
TPG Capital
TPG has tapped Government Investment Corp. of Singapore as the main investor in its new $6 billion fund, the Financial Times reported Feb. 14.
Lyceum Capital
Over in London, middle-market private equity firm Lyceum Capital closed a $438 million fund Feb. 11, its first fund since its 2006 buyout from WestLP, The Deal's Jonathan Braude noted.
Investcorp Technology Partners
New York and London-based technology-focused firm Investcorp said Jan. 28 its third buyout fund had closed with $500 million. Its last vehicle closed in 2005 with $300 million. Investcorp is the tech buyout arm of Investcorp SA.
INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDS
IDFC Private Equity Co.
IDFC closed out May with plans to raise a third fund targeting Indian infrastructure deals, with $700 million, Bloomberg reported.
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley was May 12 the latest to announce a new infrastructure fund with $4 billion, well beyond the $2.5 billion it had targeted.
Global Infrastructure Partners Ltd.
Also May 12, Global Infrastructure Partners, which was formed by General Electric Co. and Credit Suisse Group, said it had raised $5.64 billion for its first fund.
Axis Private Equity
Axis Private Equity closed a $148 million infrastructure fund, it said in late April.
Credit Agricole Private Equity
On April 22, Credit Agricole Private Equity nailed down a $950 million infrastructure fund, joining a list of many firms to close such vehicles of late.
3i Group plc
3i on April 16 closed a $1.2
billion India infrastructure Fund, the first of its kind for the London-based firm.
Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Citigroup Inc. are also targeting multibillion dollar infrastructure vehicles, according to reports -- Goldman's being $7.5 billion and Citi's $5 billion.
ICICI Bank Ltd.
Meanwhile, hoping to capitalize itself on PE investment in India, the Subcontinent's ICICI Bank Ltd. was in May said to be raising two private equity funds with a combined $3 billion, according to Bloomberg.
ASIAN PROMISE
Some firms are looking east, away from the U.S. and European markets given their unease, toward a wealth of opportunities in Asia.
Ignition China
Ignition Partners said May 27 it had raised its second fund for investment in China, Qiming Venture Partners II, with $320 million.
Baring Private Equity Asia
Baring
Private Equity Asia said May 13 it had closed its fourth fund with $1.52 billion.
CVC Capital Partners
CVC wrapped up the largest-ever fund targeting the Asia-Pacific region April 17, a $4.1 billion vehicle.
J.P. Morgan Private Equity
J.P. Morgan in mid-February lined up a new Hong Kong-based team to deploy a $750 million middle-market fund. Target sectors range from consumer-focused and retail companies to healthcare and natural resources.
Blue Ridge Capital
The J.P. Morgan announcement came as press reports indicated Blue Ridge China, the Asia Pacific-focused arm of New York private equity firm Blue Ridge Capital, had closed its second vehicle with $1.45 billion. The Blue Ridge fund will target, among other sectors, energy, real estate and consumer products, according to Reuters. Blue Ridge China co-founder Justin Tang told the wire service that investors are increasingly turning toward private equity investments in China, where it is not so reliant on leveraged buyouts.
Carlyle Group
Carlyle Group is in the process of raising as much as $4 billion for an Asia Pacific-focused vehicle, according to a Bloomberg report Feb. 27.
Orchid Asia Group Management Ltd.
Orchid Asia Group Management Ltd., a Chinese growth capital investor, closed its fourth fund at $420 million Feb. 22, well beyond its $180 million Orchid Asia IIII Fund closed in January 2006.
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
In mid-January, a source confirmed for The Deal that Goldman, Sachs & Co. planned to invest nearly $300 million in a private equity fund launched by Fang Fenglei, one of China's best-connected bankers, as Trond Vagen noted. The $2 billion Hopu Fund also drew a $1 billion cornerstone from Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd.
MIDDLE EAST EMPHASIS
Islamic Buyout Fund
A new Islamic private equity fund has raised $500 million for investments.
Joining Millennium Capital, Global Investment House and Dubai Islamic
Bank anchor the fund, according to a press release June 10.
Ithmar Capital
The Islamic Buyout Fund news came weeks after Gulfnews reported Ithmar Capital, of Abu Dhabi, was targeting a $1 billion vehicle for buyouts in the Mideast, a fund three times the size of its last.
DISTRESSED OPPORTUNITIES
Oaktree Capital Management
Oaktree in mid-May closed its eighth fund at $10.6 billion, LBO Wire reported.
TPG Capital
TPG is reportedly working on a $6 billion distressed vehicle.
Wilbur Ross, Invesco Ltd.
Topping off January, Wilbur Ross and Invesco Ltd. raised $4 billion for distressed investments under the WLR Recovery Fund IV LP. Ross told The Deal the initial target was $2.5 billion. And The Deal's Luisa Beltran noted the credit squeeze worked to the famed distressed investor's advantage:
Last year, Ross predicted that 2008 would be a year of escalating defaults. "We thought default rates would be three to five times what they were in 2007," he said. "So far, it's looking that way."
Roark Capital Group
Also rounding out January, Atlanta-based Roark Capital, which invests in food companies and restaurants, unveiled a $1 billion vehicle.
VCs CONCUR
Madrona Venture Group
Seattle-based Madrona, which focuses on early-stage, Pacific Northwest
companies, closed its fourth fund with $250 million, above the $225
million it was initially targeting, it said June 11.
RockPort Capital Partners
RockPort on June 5 said it had capped its latest vehicle
for cleantech investments at $450 million. The firm's third fund is a
jump from its second vehicle, a $261 million vehicle closed in 2006.
Canopy Ventures
Canopy Ventures went out on its own May 20 with a $100 million vehicle and plans to expand its investment focus from largely IT to include life sciences. The family of Novell Inc. founder Ray Noorda, who died in 2006, remains its largest shareholder, but the fund will operate under a new management structure.
Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed on May 12 said it had closed its latest fund with $800 million, well beyond a $675 million initial target, to focus on IT and cleantech investments.
Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers
Kleiner Perkins on May 1 announced two new funds: its 13th general interest fund with $700 million and a $500 million Green Growth Fund. The news came two months after the firm unveiled March 6 a $100 million vehicle for startups developing applications for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch.
Foundation Capital
Foundation Capital April 7 announced closing a $750 million vehicle, with roughly a third allocated to expanding its cleantech portfolio.
CMEA Ventures
CMEA announced closing its seventh vehicle March 27 with $400 million targeting cleantech, IT and life sciences investments.
Helion Venture PartnersHelion Venture Partners, an India-focused VC firm, has closed its second vehicle with $210 million, little more than a year after its first vehicle closed with $140 million. The firm also plans to broaden its sector focus, expanding into consumer services, where it already invests in areas like retail and financial services, according to reports.
Union Square Ventures
Meanwhile, Union Square Ventures said on its blog March 5 it had closed its second fund with $165 million. The firm focuses on New York IT startups.
Altira Group LLC
Cleantech-focused firm Altira Group LLC announced March 5 closing its fifth fund at $176 million with plans to deploy the capital in VC investments and buyouts in the traditional and renewable energy sectors.
.406 Ventures
Meanwhile, peHUB reported March 5 .406 Ventures closed its debut fund with $167 million, beating its $150 million target. The firm is named for Ted Williams' 1941 batting average.
Avalon Ventures
On Feb. 20 Avalon Ventures closed its eighth early-stage vehicle with $150 million and plans to retain its focus on investments in biotech, wireless and Web media applications.
Clarus Ventures LLC
Clarus, which is based in Cambridge, Mass., and South San Francisco, Calif., closed its second life sciences-focused vehicle in February with $660 million.
Canaan Partners
Canaan Partners closed a $650 million vehicle, it said Feb. 6. Canaan's eighth fund will be split 60/40 between IT and life sciences.
Crosslink Capital
On Jan. 30, Crosslink Capital unveiled its new $400 million crossover fund targeting the best of both worlds: multistage venture, public equity holdings post-IPO and PIPEs.
Index Ventures
Geneva-based Index, which has a notable track record in early-stage investing, announced a $585 million expansion-stage fund Jan. 22, which could, as The Deal's Paul Bonanos noted, afford it a second chance on missed opportunities.
Wellington Partners
Fellow European investor Wellington Partners announced the close of its sixth IT-focused fund, a $388 million vehicle, in January.
THE BREAK-UP
The news is not all good. Some firms are calling it splitsville.
Pequot Capital Management Inc.
New York PE and VC firm said it would split the two operations June 30, with the latter to be renamed FirstMark Capital LLC.
Sevin Rosen Funds
Meanwhile, Sevin Rosen unveiled plans in January to reorganize. And the Dallas-based VC firm said it would do so without its California partners, 15 months after abandoning fundraising for its 10th fund.
- Carolyn Murphy
| Dealwatch executive summary |
The Date |
The Action |
6.11.08
6.10.08
4.22.08
3.21.08
3.06.08 |
Madrona closes $250 million fund.
Islamic Buyout Fund has $500 million, weeks after Ithmar is said to be raising $1 billion for Mideast investments.
Warburg Pincus goes big. Credit Agricole nails down $950M infrastructure fund.Welsh Carson, Beecken Petty, Kohlberg, Bain make fundraising news.
VCs shore up, too. |
| 3.04.08 |
Pequot to spin off VC business. |
| 3.03.08 |
New Mountain closes third vehicle with $5.1 billion. Silver Lake, HitecVision power up. |
| 2.27.08 |
Carlyle Group could raise a $4 billion vehicle for investments in Asia, Bloomberg says. |
| 2.25.08 |
Clarus tops off its second life sciences vehicle. |
| 2.22.08 |
Orchid Asia Group closes $420 million vehicle. |
| 2.20.08 |
Avalon closes $150 million early-stage vehicle. |
| 2.19.08 |
J.P. Morgan looks east. |
| 2.14.08 |
TPG taps Singapore. |
| 2.11.08 |
Lyceum Capital closes $438 million middle-market vehicle. |
| 1.30.08 |
Ross and Invesco, Roark raise billions. Crosslink Capital corrals $400 million. |
| 1.28.08 |
Investcorp closes third fund with $500 million. |
| 1.22.08 |
Index closes expansion fund. |
| 1.10.08 |
Goldman plans $300 million investment in China PE fund. |
| 1.04.08 |
Sevin Rosen to restructure. |
| 1.2008 |
Wellington Partners closes sixth fund. |
Source: The Deal |
Despite debt financing challenges for new deals, a decline in PE returns and the parched IPO market, private equity and venture capital firms are still fundraising -- and some are doing so in a big way. 
