Market at a Glance: AIP, BlackRock, TPG raise combined $8.4 bln

U.S.-based buyout and mezzanine firms enjoyed a boost in fundraising thanks to large pools over the past two weeks. Since the last issue of Buyouts, fundraising added $13 billion, bringing the year-to-date total to $86.9 billion, nearly $25 billion more than the comparable period in 2018.

American Industrial Partners raised the most. The firm closed its seventh flagship at its hard cap of $3 billion. The fund, which was oversubscribed, will invest in North American industrial companies.

Not far behind was BlackRock, which raised $2.75 billion in its long-term vehicle. The fund was created to invest in high-quality companies interested in a long-term strategic source of capital.

Meanwhile, TPG was busy raising capital across multiple funds. Its TSSP Adjacent Opportunities vehicle raised more than $2 billion, while its Tech Adjacencies fund pulled in $650 million, boosting its total to more than $1.5 billion.

Nautic Partners and One Equity also raised in excess of $1 billion for their latest funds. Nautic closed on $1.5 billion for its ninth fund, which will make growth equity investments in healthcare, industrial products and outsourced services.

For its part, One Equity held a first close on $1.1 billion for its seventh fund, which has a target of $1.75 billion.

Deals are down

On the deals front, sponsors added just $5.7 billion to their YTD total, which is now about $12 billion behind the comparable period in 2018.

The largest deal was done by Time Holdings, a unit of Blackstone Group, which increased its interest in Hong Kong International Construction Investment Management Group. Time Holdings paid $895 million for HNA Group’s majority stake, increasing its ownership from 1.9 percent to 71.4 percent.

At a close second was Ara Korea’s acquisition of real estate property lessor Seoul Square for $869.3 million. Ara Korea is a unit of Warburg Pincus.

Market at a Glance, Buyouts, 4.15.19