CalSTRS Commits $350M In Latest Round Of Pledges

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System recently disclosed five private equity pledges totaling $350 million. The money will go to a variety of strategies, from energy to mezzanine to growth equity. All of the pledges took place in the second quarter.

CalSTRS committed $100 million to Energy Capital Partners II LP, a buyout fund earmarked for investments in North American energy infrastructure opportunities, mainly in the power generation, renewable energy, electric transmission and midstream gas sectors. Energy Capital Partners is seeking up to $3.5 billion for the vehicle.

Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners VII LP also received a commitment of $100 million from the retirement fund. San Francisco-based Hellman & Friedman is targeting $7 billion for the new fund with a hard cap of $10 billion. The firm intends to use the capital for equity-related investments of $300 million to $1.5 billion, mostly in the United States and Europe.

CalSTRS also reported making an $80 million commitment to TA Associates’s TA XI LP, which recently held a final close on $4 billion. The growth-equity vehicle is earmarked for investments in the technology, financial services, business services, health care and consumer sectors. TA Subordinated Debt Fund III LP, designed to provide subordinated loans to mid-market growth companies, got a slug of $20 million from the pension fund. The Boston firm’s previous debt fund, which closed in March 2006, collected $777.5 million.

A $50 million pledge from CalSTRS went to the Yucaipa Corporate Initiatives Fund II, which will target investments in the U.S. manufacturing, logistics, retail and consumer sectors. The fund is a joint venture between Yucaipa Companies and the Johnson Development Co., which works to revitalize deteriorating areas of cities by building movie complexes, restaurants and retail centers.

As of July 31, the $124 billion pension fund had an actual allocation to private equity of 11.8 percent, just shy of its 12 percent target allocation.