Market wrap up: Francisco halfway to $2B target

U.S.-based buyout and mezzanine shops collected $53.43 billion in capital commitments so far this year. The latest increase was led by efforts by one firm that is actually half way to reaching its latest fund’s target.

Francisco Partners secured about $1 billion for its latest investment vehicle, according to LBO Wire. Francisco Partners Fund III has a $2 billion target. The San Francisco, Calif.-based firm invests exclusively in technology and technology-enabled service businesses.

Meanwhile, Stamford, Conn.-based Longroad Asset Management is more than halfway to its $400 million target for Longroad Capital Partners III, having raised more than $200 million so far. The shop started fund-raising for the vehicle in summer 2008. Longroad raised $183 million for its second fund, which closed in 2004.

Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors has raised $110 million towards its debut mezzanine fund, which seeks to collect $500 million in capital commitments. Guggenheim Partners is helping the Los Angeles-based shop by serving as placement agent.

Deal activity stays levelThomson Reuters (publisher of PE Week) tracked five LBO transactions from Oct. 21 to Oct. 27. None of the deals reported financial terms, so year-to-date deal volume remains at $22.64 billion.

One of the recent transactions is Vertex Capital’s purchase of Cosmedicine, which will be relaunched under a new corporate name, Costru Co. Vertex tagged its COO Larry Nusbaum to rebuild the beauty products concern. Plans to improve Constru include use of a 30-minute infomercial to market products and hiring a celebrity as a spokesperson.