Landmark Partners closes fund 14 at target

Landmark Partners has closed its 14th traditional private equity secondary fund with more than $1.9 billion in commitments, according to a source familiar with the situation. The fund was targeted as $2 billion.

Landmark had planned a final close for the first quarter this year and made it in just under the buzzer, officially closing the fund on March 31, the source said. The firm raised $1.2 billion in commitments for its prior fund, which closed in 2006.

Merrill Lynch served as the placement agent for Landmark Equity Partners XIV, which had a hard cap of $2.3 billion.

As of August 2009, Landmark had deployed 10% of the fund. Amid a flurry of secondary market excitement last year, a number of secondary funds came into the market. Early last year, Goldman Sachs and Harbourvest Partners closed large dedicated secondary funds, raising $5.25 billion and $2.9 billion, respectively. Other large players have remained in the market for a longer period of time.

For example, Lexington Partners continues to raise its seventh fund after being in the market since early 2008. In March, the firm closed on more than $3.1 billion in capital commitments toward its $5 billion target. Other secondary funds in the market include Pantheon International, which is seeking $4.75 billion. As of December, Pantheon had closed on $950 million.

Separately, Landmark initially sought last year to raise $400 million toward a new hybrid secondaries fund called Hybrid Secondary Fund last year. The vehicle was designed to invest in private equity funds which are less than 50% funded. In August, the firm decided to shelve that fund for the time being and focus fund-raising efforts exclusively on its traditional secondary vehicle. —Erin Griffith