European fundraises off to healthy start in 2018

Greg Gille
06 April 2018

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The amount of capital flowing into European private equity coffers in the first quarter of the year has been solid but not exceptional, according to Unquote Data.

European GPs held 52 closes (first, interim or final) in the first three months of 2018, raising a collective €36bn, Unquote figures show. This is very similar to the numbers recorded in the first quarter of last year, when GPs raised the same €36bn across a slightly higher number of closes (57).

The Q1 2018 tally is also broadly in line with the aggregate amount of capital raised in Q4 last year, and higher than the Q3 total by some margin. The second quarter of 2017 was a real standout with €52bn hauled in across 84 closes.

The fact that a similar amount was raised in Q1 this year compared with the same period last year despite a smaller number of closes is down to a number of upper-mid-market stalwarts raising sizeable funds in the past three months – including the likes of BC Partners (the owner of Unquote parent company Acuris), EQT and PAI Partners.

Largest Q1 2018 fundraises

Fund name	Fund manager	Amount raised (€m)
EQT VIII	EQT	10,750
BC European Capital X	BC Partners	7,000
PAI Europe VII	PAI Partners	5,000
Equistone Partners Europe VI	Equistone Partners Europe	2,800
Alchemy Special Opportunities IV	Alchemy Partners	978

In terms of regions, the UK led the pack in Q1 this year with 16 closes bringing in a combined €14bn. This total was nearly matched in the Nordic region with €12bn, although this is almost entirely down to the €10.7bn EQT raise, as the region was home to only six closes. This figure is similar to the one recorded in Germany, where seven closes brought in a much lower €1.4bn. France was active in terms of number of closes with 14 funds reaching a fundraising milestone, for an aggregate of €7bn.

While the amount of fundraising activity in Q1 was broadly similar to that recorded over the same period last year, it is some way off the strong start to 2016: in the first quarter of that year, Unquote recorded 67 closes amounting to an aggregate €46bn.