Tag Archives: Funds

Advent International raises $4 billion for second global technology fund

Advent International
  • Advent Tech II exceeds $3 billion target and reaches $4 billion hard cap in six months
  • New fund is double the size of its predecessor, Advent Tech, which has invested in 20 companies since its launch in 20191
  • Dedicated tech team will leverage Advent’s global reach, cross-sector network and ecosystem of company-building resources to help businesses scale

PALO ALTO, NEW YORK, BOSTON and LONDON, December 9, 2021 – Advent International, one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors, today announced that it has completed fundraising for Advent Global Technology II (“Advent Tech II”), its second dedicated technology fund. Advent Tech II exceeded its target of $3 billion by 33% and reached its hard cap of $4 billion after six months in the market.

The new fund is double the size of its predecessor, Advent Tech, which has invested in 20 software, data and cybersecurity companies since its launch in 2019.1 Following the same strategy as the prior fund, Advent Tech II will back innovative companies led by visionary management teams, focusing on high-growth acceleration and complex transformation opportunities. It will invest mainly in North America and Europe and selectively in other global markets where Advent has an established presence. A dedicated team of 27 tech specialists based in Palo Alto, New York, Boston and London will deploy the new fund.

“We launched Advent Tech two years ago to bring the power of Advent to tech investing,” said Bryan Taylor, Managing Partner and head of Advent’s technology team. “The strong support from existing and new investors in our second fund is a validation of our strategy and approach. With our global reach, deep cross-sector network and vast ecosystem of company-building resources, we believe we’re ideally positioned to help businesses innovate and grow at scale.”

“Core to our strategy are two underlying beliefs,” said David Mussafer, Managing Partner and Co-Chair of Advent’s Executive Committee. “First, that tech is a horizontal, impacting virtually every industry and business. Second, that tech is one ecosystem, where success means understanding both disruptors and incumbents. These beliefs help us partner with the most promising innovators of today with the goal of building them into the market leaders of tomorrow.”

Deep cross-sector network
“Our 30-year history of investing in multiple industries gives us the knowledge and relationships to help tech companies disrupt their markets,” said James Brocklebank, Managing Partner and Co-Chair of Advent’s Executive Committee. “At the same time, our tech team provides us with greater visibility on disruption in all of our sectors and improves our ability to apply technology-driven value creation plans in our portfolio companies worldwide.”

One team, flexible capital
In addition to investing the new fund, the tech team makes technology investments for Advent’s $17.5 billion Global Private Equity IX (“GPE IX”) fund. “This gives us the flexibility to invest across a broad spectrum of deal sizes and types,” said Lauren Young, a Managing Director on Advent’s tech team. “With the tech fund alone, we can make smaller investments—from $50 million of equity—in early disruptors. Together with GPE IX, we can deploy $2 billion or more in established, market-leading incumbents.”

“The tech ecosystem thrives from a constant cross-pollination of ideas, talent and customers,” said Eric Wei, a Managing Director on Advent’s tech team. “Having one team with extensive experience across the growth continuum enables us to identify and support ambitious tech companies, whether they’re seeking a minority growth round or a billion-dollar investment to fuel accelerated growth or major transformation.”

Strong investment momentum
Building on Advent Tech’s momentum, Advent has already closed or signed four investments for Advent Tech II.2 It co-led an investor group that agreed to acquire McAfee Corp. (Nasdaq: MCFE), a global leader in online protection, for over $14 billion in the largest-ever take-private of a software company.3 It also invested in Iodine Software, a leading healthcare AI company, and Tekion, developer of a cloud-native SaaS platform for the automotive retail industry. The fund’s fourth investment has not yet been announced.

Diverse investor base
Advent Tech II received commitments from a diverse group of institutional investors around the world. These include public pension funds, endowments, foundations, family offices, sovereign wealth funds, funds of funds, insurance companies and corporate pension funds. More than 90% of the committed capital came from Advent’s existing investor base, with the remaining commitments provided by a select number of new investors.

In addition to Advent Tech II and GPE IX, Advent is investing its seventh Latin American private equity fund, LAPEF VII, capitalized at $2 billion.

This press release is not an offer or solicitation of an offer, or an invitation or inducement, to invest in any Advent International fund. No person may invest in any Advent International fund except in accordance with and subject to the terms of the applicable fund documentation and applicable law.

About Advent International

Founded in 1984, Advent International is one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors. The firm has invested in over 380 companies in 42 countries, and as of June 30, 2021, had $81 billion in assets under management. With 15 offices in 12 countries, Advent has established a globally integrated team of over 250 investment professionals across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on investments in five core sectors, including business and financial services; healthcare; industrial; retail, consumer and leisure; and technology. After more than 35 years dedicated to international investing, Advent remains committed to partnering with management teams to deliver sustained revenue and earnings growth for its portfolio companies.

For more information, visit:

Advent Tech: adventtech.com
Advent Global: adventinternational.com

1 Includes two pending transactions. Advent cannot ensure any pending transactions will be completed.
2 Includes two pending transactions. Advent cannot ensure any pending transactions will be completed.
3 Dealogic

Media contacts

US
Anna Epstein or Sophia Templin
Finsbury Glover Hering
Tel: +1 646 805 2000
Adventinternational-US@finsbury.com

UK
Graeme Wilson or Harry Cameron
Tulchan Group
Tel: +44 20 7353 4200
Advent@tulchangroup.com

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Blackstone Announces $5.6 Billion Final Close of Second GP Stakes Fund

Blackstone

NEW YORK – November 22, 2021 – Blackstone (NYSE: BX) today announced the final close of Blackstone Strategic Capital Holdings II (“BSCH II”), the second Blackstone fund in GP Stakes. BSCH II closed with $5.6 billion of investor capital.

Blackstone GP Stakes specializes in value-added, long-term, minority investments in the management companies of leading private equity firms. This year the team has made investments in Great Hill Partners, GTCR and Sentinel Capital Partners.

Mustafa M. Siddiqui, Head of Blackstone GP Stakes said, “We are thrilled with the positive response we received from a diverse group of limited partners. This is a strong recognition of Blackstone’s unique value proposition in the GP Stakes market and the rigorous approach our team brings to identifying and investing behind great firms.”

Mike Nash, Chairman of Blackstone GP Stakes said, “We have strong momentum in the GP Stakes market as we seek to invest with the most successful GPs across the private-market landscape. As long-term investors, we make it a priority to deliver Blackstone’s substantial resources and know-how to help them build enduring franchises.”

Blackstone GP Stakes offers substantial advantages to the firms in which it invests. These include cost savings at the portfolio company level by leveraging the buying power of the more than $150 billion revenue base across Blackstone’s global procurement platform. Blackstone also makes available a range of other business-building resources and services it provides internally and to its portfolio companies, spanning new product development, business strategy, ESG, cybersecurity, back-office operations, and other functional areas.

About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative investment firm. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $731 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

Blackstone Contact
Paula Chirhart
+1-347-463-5453
paula.chirhart@blackstone.com

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General Atlantic Closes Sixth Flagship Growth Equity Fund at $7.8 Billion, Bringing Total Committed Capital to $23.8 Billion

General Atlantic

General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, announced today the final close of its sixth flagship fund, GA 2021, at $7.8 billion, above its initial target of $5 billion. The fund received commitments from new and existing capital partners, including family offices, endowments, foundations and institutional investors around the world.

The firm, which pioneered the growth equity asset class more than four decades ago, now has $23.8 billion in committed capital and over $78 billion in assets under management.[1] General Atlantic partners with high-growth, tech-enabled companies globally across its five core sectors: Consumer, Financial Services, Healthcare, Life Sciences and Technology. Since its founding, General Atlantic has invested $49 billion in more than 445 global growth companies.

“Our global growth equity strategy positions us to capitalize on the profound acceleration of digital innovation and global entrepreneurship as we seek to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns to our capital partners,” said Bill Ford, Chairman and CEO of General Atlantic. “Our ability to partner with management teams, help build rapidly growing, technology-enabled companies on a global scale, and generate strong and consistent investment performance distinguishes General Atlantic with both entrepreneurs and investors.”

“We believe that growth equity plays a critical role in driving innovation and delivering both strong performance and positive impact,” said Graves Tompkins, Managing Director and Global Head of Capital Partnering for General Atlantic. “The enthusiasm for our global investment strategy and partnership approach enables us to scale our capital base to meet our expanding opportunity set while creating strategic and long-term relationships with family and institutional investors.”

General Atlantic operates outside of the traditional fundraising cycle, with a unique capital structure that enables the firm to scale its capital base on an ongoing basis.

The firm’s capital structure includes:

  • Closed-end funds;
  • Five-year managed accounts and evergreen accounts; and
  • A GP commitment, representing the largest single investor in GA’s core investing program.

This access to a stable, global pool of capital allows General Atlantic to maintain its focus on making the most attractive long-term decisions for both its portfolio companies and capital partners.

Amran Hussein and Conrad van Loggerenberg of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP acted as legal counsel to General Atlantic.

About General Atlantic

General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm with more than four decades of experience providing capital and strategic support for over 445 growth companies throughout its history. Established in 1980 to partner with visionary entrepreneurs and deliver lasting impact, the firm combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to scale innovative businesses around the world. General Atlantic currently has over $78 billion in assets under management inclusive of all products as of June 30, 2021, and more than 190 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Munich, Palo Alto, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Stamford. For more information on General Atlantic, please visit the website: www.generalatlantic.com.

[1] AUM is inclusive of all products as of June 30, 2021.

Media Contacts

Mary Armstrong & Emily Japlon
General Atlantic media@generalatlantic.com

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DIF CIF II reaches final close above €1.0 billion target size

DIF

DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”) is pleased to announce the final close of DIF Core Infrastructure Fund II (“DIF CIF II”) at €1,012 million, exceeding its €1,000 million target.

DIF CIF II targets equity investments in the small- and mid-sized economic infrastructure market in pre-dominantly telecom, transportation and energy. DIF CIF II focuses on resilient companies and platforms that have a clear buy-and-build strategy – all with an asset-heavy business model. Its investments typically have medium-term contract cover and strong value enhancement potential. The fund targets both greenfield and operational investments, with a key focus on Europe and North America.

DIF CIF II is the successor fund of DIF CIF I, which held its final close in November 2017 at €450 million and invested in 13 companies and platforms in the telecom, energy and transportation sectors. DIF CIF II has seen strong backing from existing (both CIF and Traditional DIF funds) and new investors to the DIF platform, receiving commitments from leading institutional investors from EMEA and North America.

Allard Ruijs, Partner at DIF Capital Partners said: “We are thankful for the strong support received from investors for the DIF CIF II partnership. The CIF strategy is a relatively young strategy for DIF and the success of the fundraising of this second fund, especially during unprecedented and challenging Covid-19 times, shows the strength of the DIF platform and the attractiveness of the DIF CIF II proposition. The fact that many of our existing investors, from both DIF CIF I and the Traditional DIF funds, have backed this strategy proves that our investors value the complementarities of the two strategies. The fund will be leveraging DIF’s large global office network and dedicated local teams to source and manage attractive investment opportunities and build a resilient and diversified portfolio.”

DIF CIF II has made a strong start, having committed to five investments to date thereby deploying ca. 35% of the fund. This includes investments in (i) Valley Fiber, a Canadian telecom infrastructure platform, (ii) IELO, a French B2B wholesale fiber operator and developer, (iii) Touax Rail, a French railcar leasing company, (iv) 4th Utility, a UK fiber developer, and (v) Bartolomeo, an Irish container leasing platform. Furthermore, the fund has a strong pipeline of investments across its target sectors and geographies.

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is a leading global independent fund manager, with €9.0 billion of assets under management across nine closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF Capital Partners invests in greenfield and operational infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

  • DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized economic infrastructure assets in the telecom, energy and transportation sectors.
  • Traditional DIF funds, of which DIF Infrastructure Fund VI is the latest vintage, target equity investments with long-term contracted or regulated income streams including public-private partnerships, concessions, utilities, and (renewable) energy projects.

DIF Capital Partners has a team of over 160 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. For further information please visit www.dif.eu.

Contact: Allard Ruijs, Partner; a.ruijs@dif.eu.

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IK Investment Partners raises €1.2 billion in three months for third Small Cap fund

ik-investment-partners

IK Investment Partners (“IK” or “the Firm”), a leading Pan-European private equity firm, is pleased to announce that it has closed the IK Small Cap III Fund (“IK Small Cap III” or “the Fund”) at its hard cap with commitments of €1.2 billion. The IK Small Cap III Fund was significantly oversubscribed and allocated exclusively to existing IK platform investors in just three months, having been raised on a fully virtual basis.

The Fund is more than double the size of its €550 million predecessor, IK Small Cap II Fund, and was raised exclusively with the support of existing investors across the IK platform.

IK Small Cap III will continue to employ the same investment strategy focused on growing businesses across IK’s core sectors of Business Services, Healthcare, Consumer and Industrials and will make investments in companies with enterprise values of between €50 million and €150 million. The Fund includes a dedicated Development Capital pool which will focus on investing in smaller companies valued up to €50 million, in line with IK’s original Small Cap I Fund strategy.

IK launched its Small Cap strategy in 2015 and has since made 27 platform investments across two funds. The €277 million IK Small Cap I Fund has realised €425 million of proceeds, including seven full exits at a gross average 3.2x MM and 56% IRR.

IK Small Cap III will continue to support businesses through its active ownership model focused on organic growth, international buy-and-build, professionalisation and operational improvement. The IK Small Cap team of 30 investment professionals located across Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Hamburg, London, Paris and Stockholm will be supported throughout the investment process by IK’s dedicated Operations and Capital Markets teams.

The closing of the Fund follows a period of significant fundraising for IK, which has held a final close on funds with over €4.3 billion of commitments in the last 12 months, reflecting continued investor confidence and support despite the ongoing pandemic. This included the €2.85 billion raised for IK’s ninth Mid Cap fund, the IK IX Fund, in May 2020 and more recently the €303 million final close for IK’s Partnership Fund, a vehicle dedicated to making minority investments in larger, more established businesses.

Kirkland & Ellis International LLP acted as legal counsel to the Fund.

This press release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States or any other jurisdiction and interests in the Fund may not be offered or sold in the United States or any other jurisdictions save in accordance with applicable law.

Kristian Carlsson Kemppinen, Head of IK’s Small Cap strategy and Managing Partner at IK, said: “Five years after we launched our first Small Cap Fund, we continue to see significant opportunities in high-potential European companies at the lower end of the mid-market. Despite the challenges we have seen throughout the pandemic, IK’s strategy has remained resilient and we are delighted with the continued support from our investors. With our Investment and Operations Teams based on the ground across all our key markets, we are ideally placed to support the transformation of local champions into European and international leaders.”

Pierre Gallix, Head of IK’s Development Capital strategy and Managing Partner at IK, said: “There continue to be a large number of opportunities at the lower end of the small cap market where we see significant potential for IK to support management teams in unlocking potential and realising growth. We have already identified a pipeline of future market leaders who we can support with our capital and expertise as they look to scale up and expand.”

For further questions, please contact:

IK Investment Partners

Maitland/AMO
James McFarlane
Phone: +44 (0) 7584 142 665
jmcfarlane@maitland.co.uk

About IK Investment Partners
IK Investment Partners (“IK”) is a Pan-European private equity firm focused on investments in the Benelux, DACH, France, Nordics and the UK. Since 1989, IK has raised more than €14 billion of capital and invested in 145 European companies. IK supports companies with strong underlying potential, partnering with management teams and investors to create robust, well-positioned businesses with excellent long-term prospects. For more information, visit www.ikinvest.com

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Ardian raises latest buyout platform at €7.5Bn to invest in high-potential businesses

Ardian

 

12 April 2021 Buyout France, Paris

• The fund exceeded its €6bn target, is already 50% deployed and aims to increase its exposure to North America.
• The fundraise follows strong portfolio performance over the past year, endorsing Ardian Buyout’s focus on growth-focused companies with strong fundamentals in resilient sectors.

Paris, April 12th, 2021- Ardian, a world leading private investment house, today announces it has raised €6.5 billion for its latest buyout fund, Ardian Buyout Fund VII. Ardian has raised an additional €1 billion via co-investments, which has extended the capacity of the platform to a total of €7.5 billion. The fund significantly surpassed the size of its predecessor, an increase of 60%, with long-term and new investors alike backing Ardian Buyout’s strategy of supporting ambitious management teams to turn regional champions into global leaders in niche markets. The investment strategy is focused on four core sectors of expertise: healthcare, the food value chain, technology and services. The approach encompasses three transverse themes, namely: buy & build, sustainable buyout, tech-enabled & digital solutions.

Ardian Buyout, which has over 52 investment professionals operating across seven offices, will invest the fund in line with its growth-oriented established strategy of backing growing European businesses with an enterprise value of up to €2bn. The fund will also target North American businesses for up to 10% of its size.

Ardian Buyout Fund VII attracted a global and diverse investor base, composed of 221 institutional and private investors, from 27 countries. Approximately a quarter of the fund’s previous investors represent over half of the total amount raised, substantiating the trust and loyalty established by the team. In addition, the fund composition is shifting and broadening. The HNWI investor category now distinctively make up nearly one tenth of the funds raised (8%).

Philippe Poletti, Member of the Executive Committee and Head of Ardian Buyout, said: “The success of our latest fundraise clearly demonstrates the continued trust in our approach by our investors. We are proud to have surpassed our target in such an extraordinary time. The sizable increase clearly shows the efficacy of our investment strategy, which is now truly hardship tested – and one which has a proven track record of six generations.

“Importantly, our investments have shown significant resilience across the past year, and we continue to see compelling opportunities in the market. Our focus on businesses with strong fundamentals in resilient sectors means we are well-positioned to invest in the next generation of global champions. In this unusual time, our ability to offer global investors access to growth-focused and sustainable investments is more compelling than ever before.”

Ardian has already committed 50% of the seventh-generation fund across eleven investments. The most recent transactions include Inovie (Medical Laboratory Testing, France), Angus (Specialty additives focused in Life Sciences and Personal Care, USA), AD Education (Creative Arts Education Platform, France) Jakala (Digital Marketing, Italy) and GBA (Food & Environmental Testing, Germany).

Over the past decade, Ardian has incorporated sustainability at the core of company transformation in order to shape high-performing and resilient business models providing measurable impacts on society and the planet. In the past year, the company has introduced a more refined and measured Sustainable Buyout Methodology, which aims to help today’s companies become the companies of the future – we see this as an important societal step and increasingly a clear proxy for company performance. The approach is focused on companies’ ability to transform themselves into more sustainable and more resilient businesses, which includes the ability to improve their positive impact while also reducing their negative impact.

In late 2020, Ardian also strengthened its Buyout team with the appointment of five new Managing Directors, with two external recruits, Scarlett Omar Broca in France and Heiko Geissler in Germany.

 

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$110bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base.

Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 700 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of more than 1,000 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

 

PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN – Headland

CARL LEIJONHUFVUD

CLeijonhufvud@headlandconsultancy.com +44 (0)20 3805 4827

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The Carlyle Group Raises €1.35 Billion for CETP IV

Carlyle

  • Hits hard cap and nearly doubles the size of its prior fund
  • Leverages Carlyle’s deep technology expertise and global footprint to invest in lower middle market growth opportunities in Europe and the U.S.

WASHINGTON, DC and LONDON, UK – 31 January, 2019. Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) today announced the first and final closing of CETP IV, a €1.35 billion fund that invests in lower middle market technology-focused companies in Europe and the U.S. Starting the capital raise in October 2018, the fund received substantial limited partner interest, enabling Carlyle to nearly double the size of its prior fund and hit its hard cap. Investors across the world committed capital to CETP IV, including sovereign wealth funds, public & corporate pensions, insurance companies, fund of funds, foundations, family offices and high net worth individuals.

The transatlantic 19-person CETP IV team will continue its strategy of investing in business-to-business companies in the European and U.S. lower middle market.  Since the firm’s inception, Carlyle has invested $16.2 billion in 193 investments within technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) as part of Carlyle’s Corporate Private Equity segment, which has assets under management of $82 billion and 294 investment professionals.

Michael Wand and Vladimir Lasocki, Managing Directors and Co-Heads of CETP IV, said: “We are grateful for the confidence of our investors, many of whom are repeat limited partners, and we are pleased to broaden our capital base with a number of new institutional investors. Their support is valued along with their ability to move quickly, which enabled us to achieve our hard cap in only three months.”

“We believe Carlyle’s global platform, combined with CETP IV’s local sector-specialist team, makes us the right partner for entrepreneurs and management teams to build global businesses, as we continue our nearly 20-year focus on investing in attractive technology opportunities in the lower middle-market on both sides of the Atlantic.”

Kewsong Lee, Carlyle’s Co-Chief Executive Officer, said: “We want to thank our limited partners for their immense support, which is a testament to CETP IV’s long-term performance and the team’s distinctive capabilities and positioning in the market.  CETP IV harnesses Carlyle’s deep technology expertise, extensive global networks and substantial operating resources to create a clear edge in value creation.”

*****

About The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global alternative asset manager with $212 billion of assets under management across 339 investment vehicles as of September 30, 2018. Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, many of whom are public pensions. Carlyle invests across four segments – Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Carlyle has expertise in various industries, including: aerospace, defense & government services, consumer & retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, real estate, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,625 people in 31 offices across six continents.

Web: www.carlyle.com
Videos: www.youtube.com/onecarlyle  
Tweets: www.twitter.com/onecarlyle  
Podcasts: www.carlyle.com/about-carlyle/market-commentary

Media Contacts

UK:
Catherine Armstrong
Catherine.Armstrong@carlyle.com
+44 20 7894 1632

US:
Liz Gill
Elizabeth.Gill@carlyle.com
+1 202 729 5385

Margaret Popper/Devin Broda
MPopper@sardverb.com
DBroda@sardverb.com
+1 212 687 8080

Asia:
Tammy Li
Tammy.Li@carlyle.com
+852 2878 5236

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