Market At A Glance

Recent efforts of U.S.-based buyout and mezzanine shops have brought the fundraising total to $54 billion so far this year. ArcLight Capital LLC obtained $1.2 billion for ArcLight Energy Partners Fund V LP towards its $2.5 billion goal. Barclays Capital Inc., Madison Williams & Co. LLC and Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc. are the placement agents for the fund.

Lightyear Capital LLC has picked up $613.5 million in pledges for Lightyear Fund III LP. The New York-based shop that provides buyout and growth capital to the financial services industry is seeking $1.1 billion for the fund. SK Capital Partners also closed SK Capital Partners III LP with $500 million, which is the hard cap and $100 million above what the New York shop had been seeking.

There were about 32 transactions involving U.S.-based financial sponsors from Aug. 11 to Aug. 30. Eight disclosed financial terms and combined for $5.3 billion. A majority of this total came from two billion-dollar transactions including one by an investor group that included Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC. The group acquired SPIE SA, a provider of engineering, information technology and other services, from PAI Partners SAS for €2.1 billion ($3.03 billion). Year-to-date deal volume rose to $66.68 billion.