Advent International closes GPE VIII fund on $13bn hard-cap

The firm's eighth global private equity vehicle reached its hard-cap after six months on the road, according to the GP. It is by some margin the largest vehicle with a remit to invest in Europe closed so far in Q1, with the previous league table topper being Coller's latest $7.15bn secondaries vehicle.

Advent follows in the footsteps of other large-cap players that have closed mega-funds in recent months. In December 2015, Blackstone held a final close on $18bn for its latest global buyout fund, Blackstone Capital Partners VII. In November, Warburg Pincus raised $12bn for its latest global fund, Warburg Pincus Private Equity XII – as with Advent, Warburg stated the fundraising took six months to complete.

Other private equity giants are still on the road though, with TPG in particular expected to close its latest vehicle in the region of $10bn at some point in Q2.

Advent had raised €8.5bn for its previous fund, Advent International GPE VII, in less than nine months in 2012. Significant transactions completed by the GP since then include the DKK 17bn buyout of Danish payment solutions provider Nets alongside ATP and Bain Capital in 2014, as well as a €2.15bn deal for Italian banking services provider ICBPI alongside Bain and Clessidra last year.

Investors
According to Advent, the firm benefited from a strong re-up rate, with 90% of all commitments to GPE VIII coming from existing investors. Around 50% of LPs in the previous GPE VII vehicle came from North America, with 25% from Europe and 25% from the rest of the world (primarily from the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions).

Investments
Advent stated the fund will pursue the same strategy as its predecessor, targeting buyouts, recapitalisations and growth equity transactions in Europe and North America. Investments in Asia and Latin America will also be considered on an ad hoc basis.

The previous fund targeted companies with an enterprise value of up to $3.5bn and equity tickets in the $100m-1bn range. It remains to be seen whether the additional dry powder raised for this latest vehicle will enable the firm to complete more investments or target larger transactions.

The fund will adopt a generalist strategy with regards to sectors, targeting the business and financial services, healthcare, industrial, consumer and TMT segments.

People
Advent International – Ralf Huep (managing partner); Johanna Barr, Robert Weaver (managing directors).

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Funds
• Buyout
• Advent International