CSFB closes secondary fund

Credit Suisse First Boston has raised nearly $2bn dedicated to making secondary investments in private equity and real estate.

The bank’s secondary group, CSFB Strategic Partners, has closed CSFB Strategic Partners II with $1.625bn to buy global secondary interests in buyout, mezzanine and other portfolios. The fund was launched just over a year ago and has exceeded its $1.25bn target to become the market’s third largest secondary fund. Last October Coller Capital raised the largest global fund of this type when it closed Coller International Partners IV at $2.5bn. The fund’s target had been $1bn. In July this year New York-based secondaries specialist Lexington Partners closed its fifth fund at $2bn.

CSFB has also raised $300m for CSFB Strategic Partners II RE, a co-investment fund focused on secondary real estate investments. The bank closed its first secondary fund in 2000 when it raised $832m for DLJ Strategic Partners. This fund is now fully invested. The group’s second fund is reported to have drawn down 30% of the available capital already and made more than 70 purchases. The firm has participated in two public secondary deals this year, acquiring portfolios from Private Equity Holding for $470m and from Deutsche Bank for $500m.