HarbourVest Has $3.6B For Secondaries

Private equity investment firm HarbourVest Partners announced on July 10 that it had raised $3.6 billion for its Dover Street VIII fund, more than originally targeted due to strong demand.

The fund will make secondary investments, mainly buying other investors’ stakes in existing private equity funds. HarbourVest had planned to raise $3 billion for the fund, which was oversubscribed, but eventually closed it above target.

The secondary market has been boosted in part by regulatory pressure on banks and insurers to improve their capital positions, prompting them to sell assets, including their private equity fund stakes.

Dover Street VIII has already completed four transactions, including buying the assets of Guernsey-based Conversus Capital.