Private Equity funds raise $95bn in third quarter of 2017

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Research provider Preqin indicated that 181 private equity (PE) funds raised a total of $95.2bn in capital commitments worldwide in the third quarter of 2017, compared to 256 PE funds that raised $137.7bn in the preceding quarter and 232 PE funds that secured $66.6bn in the third quarter of 2016. It pointed out that 45 buyout funds secured $65.9bn during the third quarter of the year, or 69.2% of total capital commitments, followed by 80 venture capital (VC) funds with $11.2bn in raised capital (11.7%), 24 growth funds with $7.1bn in capital commitments (7.5%), six secondaries funds with $5.4bn in raised capital (5.7%), and eight fund of funds with $2.6bn in commitments (2.7%). The survey indicated that 2,022 PE funds are seeking to raise an aggregate of $706bn in capital worldwide as at the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2017.

It noted that 1,057 out of the 2,022 private equity funds, or 52.3% of the total, are seeking to raise $316bn to be invested in North America, followed by 368 PE funds (18.2%) looking to raise $249bn to be invested in Asia, and 347 funds (17.2%) aiming to raise $97bn to be invested in Europe. Further, the survey indicated that dry powder held by PE funds globally, or the amount of capital available for investment in portfolio companies, reached a record-high of $953.8bn at the end of September 2017, up by 13.8% from $837.8bn at end-2016. It noted that buyout funds accounted for 63.7% of dry powder, followed by growth funds (19.1%), venture capital funds (11.4%), and other PE funds such as balanced and co-investment funds (5.8%).