Fundraising

The software-focused firm has delivered an average 5.2x multiple and 60% IRR across eight exits in recent months, PEI has learned.

The firm, which closed its acquisition of UK supermarket chain Asda last year, expects to wrap up fundraising by the end of the third quarter.

The firm is set to hold a first close of $8bn for its latest flagship private equity fund and gathered $41bn of inflows across strategies in the second quarter.

In the latest instalment of this series, PEI catches up with Equistone’s head of investor relations, to discuss the changes he wants to see in PE and the evolving role of IR professionals.

TPG Partners IX and TPG Healthcare Partners II secured $10.6bn, or 57% of their combined target of $18.5bn, CFO Jack Weingart said in the firm’s Q2 2022 earnings call.

The firm's other flagship PE offering, Ares Special Opportunities Fund II, remains in the market after its hard-cap was bumped up to $7.1bn from $6.1bn.

Fundraising in the first half of 2022 fell, yet both the number of funds seeking to raise capital and the volume of capital they are targeting have hit a record.

The double fundraise comes less than two years after the close of Waterland Private Equity Fund VIII, which closed on its €2.5bn hard-cap.

Areas that represent continued growth for the firm include credit, investment solutions and infrastructure, chief executive Kewsong Lee said on the firm's second quarter earnings call.

Talent outflows are putting LPs in a difficult position at a time when having a sufficient number of experienced staff has become more important than ever.