Market At A Glance

The start of the second quarter saw momentum continue on the fundraising front. Insight Venture Partners closed Insight Venture Partners VII LP at $1.57 billion. The target was $1.4 billion. The New York-based shop is focused on expansion and late stage investments in the software, Internet and data services sectors.

Other firms were active as well. CI Capital Partners LLC secured $620 million for CI Capital Investors II LP, which had a $500 million target. Waud Capital Partners LLC also held the final close of Waud Capital Partners III LP at $463 million. The Chicago, Ill.-based shop was initially seeking $350 million. The fundraising total for the year is at about $20.6 billion.

Thomson Reuters, the publisher of Buyouts magazine, tracked 35 deals involving U.S.-based sponsors since the start of April. The eight with known financial terms combined for $2.2 billion, which brought the year-to-date deal volume total to about $20.9 billion.

One of the period’s deals was Blackstone Group LP’s acquisition of Rikco International LLC for $254.6 million from Rikco Holding Corp., a shoe maker and wholesaler. Carlyle Group LLC’s Tridimension Holdings SASU also acquired a 61.77 percent stake in Metrologic Group SA. This deal has a rank value of about $132.7 million.