by Joanna Nolasco, PitchBook
Partners Group has announced the closing of its latest secondary investment fund on its hard cap of €2.5 billion. While certainly a hefty sum, it’s surprisingly dwarfed by a handful of other recent massive secondary funds: Coller International Partners VII collected $7.15 billion in January and Lexington Capital Partners VIII closed on $10.1 billion last year—touted as the largest dedicated secondary acquisition fund ever raised. Ardian’s upcoming fund may soon up the ante, with rumors that it has raised $10 billion as it approaches a final close.
U.S. and European secondary funds indeed seem to be getting larger across the board. According to the PitchBook Platform, the median fund size of these vehicles closed in 2015 was $500 million, a 19% increase from the previous year. Interestingly, almost half of U.S. and European secondary funds from the past decade worth at least $3 billion have vintage years between 2013 and 2015.
Here are some of the largest secondary funds closed in the past few years:
