Market at a Glance: Fundraising slows as summer ends

The summer slowdown has finally caught up to U.S.-based buyout and mezzanine fundraising. Since the last issue of Buyouts, fundraising added only $1.8 billion to its year-to-date total, which is now at $227.8 billion. 2019 still outpaces 2018 by a far margin.

EW Healthcare outraised all firms, closing its second growth equity fund at $745 million, beating its original target of $650 million. The fund will target fast-growing commercial-stage healthcare companies in the U.S. and in Europe.

Lee Equity Partners was close behind with its third fund, which raised more than $655 million. Founded by Thomas H. Lee, Lee Equity Partners targets middle market companies within the healthcare services, financial services, business services and consumer sectors.

Motive Partners kept pace with its debut fund, which raised $500 million. Motive Partners invests in financial-services-focused technology businesses. Motive was founded in 2016 by Rob Heyvaert, Michael Hayford and Stephen Daffron.

Variant Equity helped add to the total. The Los Angeles-based firm’s sophomore fund raised $102 million. It targets companies with revenues in excess of $75 million in North America.

It continues to be a slow year for dealmaking, which performed no differently in the late summer heat. It added just $1 billion to its year-to-date total, which now stands at $113 billion—24 percent lower than this time last year.

The largest deal since the last issue of Buyouts belonged to Littlejohn & Co, which acquired Kaman Industrial Technologies Corp, a manufacturer of bearings, for $700 million.