GI Partners closes on US$1.45bn

GI Partners, the trans-Atlantic private equity firm based in California and London, has raised US$1.45bn (€1.1bn) for its second fund.

GI Partners Fund II will continue the investment strategy of its US$526m predecessor, which closed in 2001. The fund will take controlling stakes in asset-based cash flowing business and properties in the US and Western Europe. It will focus on healthcare, real estate, hospitality, retail, logistics and transportation, media and entertainment, financial services, technology and telecoms. The fund has already invested 40% of its committed capital.

The firm was most recently involved in the acquisition of 290 pubs from the Spirit Group, the pub operator owned by Punch Taverns, for £571m. Notable exits from GI Partners Fund I, which returned to investors twice the money invested at an IRR of 40%, include its sale of UK wine bar chain Yates for £202m, and Digital Realty Trust, a US publicly-held real estate investment trust (REIT).