General Atlantic flagship fund GA 2021 closes on USD 7.8bn

Harriet Matthews
11 November 2021

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General Atlantic has held a final close on USD 7.8bn for GA 2021, its sixth flagship fund.

The vehicle exceeded its target of USD 5bn and brings the firm's total committed capital to USD 23.8bn, according to a statement. The GP now has assets under management of USD 78bn.

Amran Hussein and Conrad van Loggerenberg of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison provided legal advice on the fund.

GA 2021 is more than double the size of the GP's predecessor vehicle, GA 2017, which held a final close in March 2018 on USD 3.3bn.

In addition to its closed-ended private equity funds, General Atlantic manages five-year managed accounts and evergreen accounts.

The firm was established in 1980 and has since invested more than USD 49bn in 430 companies. The firm has 14 offices globally, with teams in Europe in Munich, London and Amsterdam.

In July 2021, the GP announced that it had formed a USD 3bn continuation fund, advised by Evercore and Paul Weiss. The fund was formed to back the continued growth of four portfolio companies: insurance group Howden; commodities price reporting and market intelligence firm Argus Media; Mexico-headquartered pharmaceuticals company Sanfer; and media group Red Ventures.

The secondary deal was led by Ardian and HarbourVest, with anchor commitments from CPP Investments and Partners Group.

Of the USD 3bn in commitments to the continuation fund, USD 1bn can be used as follow-on capital for further investments in these companies, with the remaining USD 2bn used to acquire the companies from their existing investors.

Investors
GA 2021 is backed by new and existing LPs, including family offices, endowments, foundations and institutional investors. General Atlantic's GP commitment represents the single largest investor in its core investing programme, according to a statement.

GA 2017 had 158 LPs, according to Unquote Data. LPs in the fund included the Employees Retirement System of the State of Hawaii and the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Plan.

Investments
GA 2021 will continue to make growth equity investments in high-growth, technology-enabled companies on a global basis, targeting five core sectors: consumer, financial services, healthcare, life sciences and technology.

Investments from GA 2017 included a GBP 200m capital injection for fitness brand Gymshark, which the GP provided alongside company founder Ben Francis; the company was valued at GBP 1bn and has been tipped for a future IPO, according to press reports. In addition, the fund led a USD 130m funding round for biotechnology company Immunocore in March 2020, investing alongside Terra Magnum Capital Partners.

The GP has made 13 investments in Europe totalling almost EUR 3.7bn since the start of 2021, according to Unquote Data, marking its most active year to date. These include participating in a USD 650m Series G funding round for existing portfolio company FlixMobility, a bus and railway service operator headquartered in Germany. Most recently, the firm backed data integration software Matillion, leading a USD 150m Series E round for the company in September.

General Atlantic's recent exits include Depop – the secondhand clothing and accessories marketplace was sold to Etsy in a USD 1.625bn deal in June 2021. The GP had first invested in the company via a GBP 51m Series C round in June 2019.

People
General Atlantic – Bill Ford (chairman, CEO).