Market wrap up: Lone Star Funds wrangles $1.1B for fund VII

Buyout and mezzanine shops secured about $36.5 billion so far this year, with the most recent additional commitments coming from Lone Star Funds. The Dallas-based shop completed another interim close for Lone Star Fund VII at $1.1 billion. The firm also raised $1.6 billion for Lone Star Real Estate Fund II, according to Private Equity Insider.

Another firm that added to the tally is Veritas Capital, which collected about $1.23 billion for Veritas Capital Fund IV. The fund was targeted at $950 million. The New York-based firm primarily invests in defense, technology and government services companies.

Deal activity

Thomson Reuters (publisher of PE Week), tracked 13 leverage buyouts from July 13 through July 21. Only two of the transaction divulged financial terms and neither was a particularly large deal.

Year-to-date deal volume edged up slightly to $28.3 billion.

Sun Capital Partners Inc.’s Exopack Holdings Corp. affiliate bought certain food packaging assets and liabilities from Bemis Co. for $81.2 million. The transaction included plants in Wisconsin and Oklahoma. Bemis pursued the asset sale as part of its $1.2 billion purchase of Alcan Packaging Food Americas in March.

Concesionaria Vuela Compania de Aviacion SA (a.k.a. Volaris) was involved in the other LBO with reported terms. A group of investors acquired a 50% stake in the passenger airline for $80.6 million. The investors included Indigo Partners, Discovery Americas II and others. Sinca Inbursa SA de CV and Grupo Telesiva SAB each sold a 25% interest in the business. —Eamon Beltran