PAI Partners nears close for EUR 7bn Fund VIII following timeline extension

The France-headquartered firm launched the fundraise for PAI Partners VIII in February 2022, according to Unquote Data. 

The vehicle held a series of closes over the course of 2022, a third source said, adding that the vehicle is close to reaching its EUR 7bn target. The fund will be 37% larger than its 2018-vintage, EUR 5.1bn predecessor, the same source noted. 

The extension was introduced to accommodate investors who were still processing commitments internally, the same source added. 

The nature of the current fundraising market means that such extensions are not unusual, the second source said, with one private capital adviser following the fundraise adding that GPs are typically struggling to raise the final 10% of their targets. 

LP liquidity constraints, brought about in large part due to a fall in distributions from exits amid a global M&A slowdown, have made for a challenging fundraising market. This has particularly affected those looking to raise multi-billion vehicles, whose sheer scale means that attempting to raise a larger fund necessitates a significant amount of capital, even for a modest increase in fund size. 

PAI is therefore not alone in taking longer to reach its fundraising goals. UK-headquartered listed GP Bridgepoint announced in its recently issued half-year report that it has extended the fundraising timeline for Bridgepoint Europe VII to allow LPs to commit to the fund via their 2024 allocations, as reported. 

PAI typically invests in businesses with enterprise values of EUR 300m-EUR 1.5bn, according to Unquote Data, focusing on the business services, food and consumer, general industrials and healthcare sectors.  

PAI Partners VIII currently houses six investments, the third source said. The fund deployed equity to support outdoor accommodation business European Camping Group’s acquisition of market peer Vacanceselect, which was announced in July 2022 and valued the company at EUR 1bn, according to press reports. In December 2022, the fund made its second deal, acquiring the Austria-headquartered Savoury Solutions division of IFF, which has since rebranded as NovaTaste following the USD 900m carve-out. 

The fund also invested in Belgium-headquartered network infrastructure services provider Infra Group in January 2023. It acquired France-based theme park operator Looping Group from Mubadala Capital and BPI France in May 2023, followed by hospitality, care equipment producer ECF Group in a EUR 800m secondary buyout from Naxicap Partners in June 2023. In the same month, the GP took an equal and co-controlling investment in accounting and business services provider Azets alongside existing backer Hg. 

Its predecessor vehicle made 17 platform deals over the course of its investment period. 

PAI Partners declined to comment. 

[Editor's note: The last paragraph was amended to note that PAI Partners' predecessor fund made 17 deals during its investment period.]

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