Freeman Spogli fund-raising slow going

Los Angeles-based buyout firm Freeman Spogli & Co. has raised $419.2 million toward its sixth buyout fund, according to a regulatory filing, still well short of the $1.75 billion target it set for the fund when it entered the market with FS Equity Partners VI early last year.

Freeman Spogli appears to have gotten off to a fast start with the fund. In March 2009, the firm had already raised $250 million. But since then, the firm has only gathered another $169 million in commitments, according to the filing.

For its sixth fund, Freeman Spogli is seeking a significant increase in size over its prior vehicle, the 2003-vintage FS Equity Partners V, which had $1 billion in commitments. To date, the new fund has received commitments from Florida State Board of Administration, Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board and School Employees Retirement System of Ohio, which committed $40 million.

Freeman Spogli was founded in 1983 by Bradford Freeman and Ambassador Ronald Spogli. In January, the firm invested in The Paradise Shops, an airport retailer. —Erin Griffith