Advent International has completed fundraising for Advent International GPE VII Limited Partnership with total subscriptions of EUR8.5 billion (USD10.8 billion), making it the largest buyout fund raised since September 2008.
The new fund will pursue the same successful strategy as Advent’s six prior GPE funds – partnering with management teams to enable business transformation through revenue and earnings growth. Advent GPE VII will focus primarily on the developed markets of North America and Western Europe and selectively on other global markets.
“We are very pleased with the strong reception that Advent GPE VII has received in a highly competitive and demanding private equity fundraising environment,” says David Mussafer, an Advent managing partner. “Our success is the result of our partnership approach, singular focus on private equity and the hard work of our investment professionals, management teams, operating partners and loyal limited partners.”
Advent GPE VII is believed to be the largest buyout fund launched and raised since the start of the financial crisis in September 2008. The fund, which launched officially in March 2012, was heavily subscribed by existing investors and also received commitments from a select number of new limited partners, resulting in a broad, well-diversified investor base.
“We believe that the current investment environment favours our approach of embracing complexity and applying our industry knowledge to drive transformation and returns at our portfolio companies,” says Ralf Huep, a general manager at Advent. “Advent GPE VII is already actively investing and we are seeing a number of opportunities that we think will benefit from Advent’s investment approach. As with prior GPE funds, Fund VII has a flexible mandate and will dynamically allocate capital across a variety of deal types and sizes.”
Advent has closed one investment through Fund VII – Serta & Simmons Bedding, comprising two of the world’s leading mattress manufacturers – and has agreed to invest in two other businesses – KMD, one of Denmark’s leading IT services and software companies, and Cytec Industries’ Coating Resins business.
Advent GPE VII is being invested by one of the largest and most experienced teams focused on developed private equity markets. The GPE team comprises over 100 investment professionals with a mix of operating, strategic consulting and financial backgrounds. The team is organised systematically across geography and sector to ensure the most efficient and effective use of talent and resources globally. This approach promotes cross-border transfer of best practices and business models and ensures that Advent’s sector knowledge is widely shared, particularly in relation to deal origination and business transformation. The firm is in the process of opening a new office in Shanghai, which will extend its global reach to 17 countries.
Advent’s GPE program has delivered strong, consistent returns throughout six generations of funds and several economic and private equity cycles. Its 23-year track record is marked by a history of realisations, with 174 full and substantially realised/public exits out of 207 total investments since 1989. Representative Advent GPE VI investments include Five Below, DFS Furniture, Vantiv, WorldPay, Connolly, Priory Group, ABC Supply, Maxam, SkillSoft and Oberthur Technologies.
“We are fortunate to have a large, loyal group of investors and greatly appreciate their support in making this a successful fundraising,” says Bob Brown, an Advent managing director and the firm’s global head of limited partner services. “We are honored that they have entrusted their beneficiaries’ capital with us, and we endeavour to earn their continued support by maintaining our focus on investment performance.”
