The fundraising places it firmly ahead of other upper-mid-market pan-European buyout players, but not in the same league as the mega-buyout houses.
However, the €3.5bn raised by Bain gives it substantially greater firepower than mid-market players such as
A look at Bain’s past activity suggests it is likely to continue to focus on mega-deals despite the smaller size of its fund compared to big buyout groups. In 2007, Bain paid €1.6bn for UK catering supplier Brakes. Its bidding interest has consistently weighed in at the €1bn+ mark – earlier this year it was outbid by a BC Partners-led consortium for Turkish retailer Migros which was sold for US$1.6bn, and in 2006, it made a play for Dutch postal business TNT which was eventually acquired by Apollo Management for US$1.48bn.