Market At A Glance

The third quarter saw something of a slowdown in fundraising activity compared with the earlier part of 2011. U.S.-based buyout and mezzanine shops secured $62.1 billion so far this year. The latest quarter’s additions include Avenue Capital Group’s close of Avenue Special Situations VI at its $2 billion target and Berkshire Partners LLC’s completion of Berkshire Fund VIII LP with $4.5 billion in commitments.

The amount secured in the third quarter ($16 billion) is less than the $27.8 billion obtained during the second quarter and the $18.3 billion raised in the first quarter.

Deals Front

Thomson Reuters, the publisher of Buyouts, tracked 185 completed deals involving U.S.-based financial sponsors from July 1 to Sept. 15. The largest transaction, among those with reported financial terms, was in the industrial sector. Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC, Axa Investment Managers Private Equity Europe SA and Caisse de Depot & Placement du Quebec formed an investor group that bought SPIE SA from PAI Partners in late August for about €2.1 billion ($3.03 billion).

The 37 deals with disclosed financial terms combined for $19.6 billion, and helped push year-to-date deal volume to about $71.2 billion.