Funds

2015 fundraising on track to beat 2014

PEI Research & Analytics reveals that private equity fundraising this year is likely to surpass total capital raised globally in 2014.

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The total capital raised this year by private equity funds globally looks set exceed the amount of capital raised in 2014, according to data released by PEI’s Research & Analytics division.

So far this year, funds have raised a total of $289.6 billion, with $101.4 billion in Q1, $95.7 billion in Q2 and $92.4 billion Q3, compared to a total of $385.6 billion for the whole of last year.

Funds would have to raise a further $96 billion in Q4 to match the total for 2014, and a further $138.2 billion to match 2013’s fundraising total of $427.8 billion, according PEI Research data for Q3.

There are 182 funds currently in market targeting $1 billion or more looking to raise a combined $435.5 billion. These include a number of multi-billion dollar funds which have either already surpassed or are approaching their target, according to PEI Research.

Blackstone Capital Partners VII launched in 2014 targeting $16 million is still in market having raised $17.5 billion to date. TPG Partners VII, also launched in 2014, has raised $6.5 billion toward an $8 billion target, and another 2014 vehicle, KKR European Fund IV has raised $3.49 billion toward its $3.9 billion target, while Lindsay Goldberg IV has raised $3.3 billion toward its $4 billion target, PEI Research shows.

Fewer funds closed in the third quarter of this year compared to the same period a year before, although more funds were raised. In Q3 2015, 135 funds raised $92.4 billion compared to Q3 2014 when 165 funds closed raising $80.3 billion.

Funds focused specifically on Europe showed strong closes in the third quarter of this year, with 23 funds raising $30.2 billion of capital.

These included EQT VII that raised $7.6 billion, Carlyle Europe Partners IV that closed on $4.2 billion, and Montagu V that closed on $3.1 billion.

Large European funds still in market include Charterhouse Capital Partners X, which is targeting €3 billion and has reached its first close on €1.5 billion, as exclusively reported by Private Equity International.