By David G.
Barry
Advent
International’s newest flagship fund is 40% larger than its 2019 fund. In
fact, at $25 billion, the fund is – for the moment – the second– largest
private equity fund ever raised, just behind Blackstone’s $26.21 billion 2019
fund.
But to the Boston-based private equity firm, the size of its tenth10th fund makes perfect sense.
“We believe that GPE X is the appropriate size given our large team, strategy,
investment pace and the opportunities we are seeing for private equity
investments in our target markets,” an Advent spokesperson told Markets Group.
Advent needed less than six months to raise the fund. Institutions that
committed to the fund included Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment
Management Board, The Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island, Employees’
Retirement System of Texas and Minnesota State Board of Investment. Other
firms currently in the market are seeing or anticipating slower fundraising
processes – the result of the number of firms fundraising and the fact that
more limited partners are overallocated to the sector.
In a prepared statement, David Mussafer, Advent managing partner and
co-chair of the firm’s executive committee, said that the raising of the fund
is “a testament to the trust our investors place in us, particularly in
challenging global economic and political circumstances.”
Those circumstances, said the spokesperson, make size especially important –
largely because companies will likely need more capital and support.
“This fund will give us additional capital and firepower to truly invest with
conviction behind companies that with our support, we can respond to changing
market conditions and dynamically allocate capital and resources to pursue the
most attractive investment opportunities across its target sectors and markets,”
the spokesperson said.
Advent expects to use the fund to make approximately 35 to 40 investments across
geographies, sectors, deal types and sizes.
“We’re focused on opportunities where our deep sector insights and long-term
relationships converge to give us a differentiated perspective on a business,”
the spokesperson said.
Founded in 1984, Advent has more than 265 investment professionals who are
deployed across five core sectors: business & financial services;
healthcare; industrial, retail, consumer & leisure; and technology. It has
made 390 investments across 41 countries.
The firm is not yet investing the new fund. It’s $17.5 billion 2019 fund was
82% invested/committed as of January,.
19, 2022, the spokesperson said. With the new fund, Advent now has more than
$100 billion of assets under management. This includes its second dedicated
technology fund, which closed last year at $4 billion.
“We will continue to embrace the reality of the moment – adjusting our
operating models, strengthening our operational improvement capabilities and
portfolio and leveraging our skilled global team and resources to stay agile
and resilient,” the spokesperson added.