Market wrap up: Fund-raising slogs forward in Q3

Buyout and mezzanine shops have seen fund-raising crawl during the latest third quarter. For the three-month period, roughly $12.8 billion in capital commitments were pledged nudging the year-to-date total to only $48.9 billion, compared to about $36.2 billion as of the end of the second quarter.

Despite the difficult environment, at least one firm successfully completed its drive to raise capital. Charlesbank Capital Partners wrapped up Charlesbank Equity Fund VII above the $1.25 billion target. The Boston-based firm secured $1.5 billion in capital commitments, which was the hard cap.

The firm started marketing the seventh fund in April and expects to invest capital from this vehicle during the next five years. Charlesbank focuses on the middle market with typical investment of $50 million to $100 million per transaction.

Deal activity

Deal activity for the third quarter was comparable to the pace of the previous quarter. Thomson Reuters (publisher of PE Week) tracked 111 LBO deals during the period, compared to 114 during the second quarter.

The total value of the 13 with reported financial terms during the latest period combined for $2.92 billion. For the previous period, the 22 with known valuation had an aggregate value of $2.87 billion.

The largest deal of the third quarter involved Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.’s $1.8 billion acquisition of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Oriental Brewery Co. business. This also represents the biggest deal so far in 2009.

The year-to-date deal count is at 345 transactions and the ones with disclosed financial terms have a combined value of $10.8 billion.