Private investment house Ardian has raised a record €3.2bn for its sixth-generation Expansion Fund, Ardian Expansion Fund VI (AEF VI), which will focus on making equity investments ranging from €50m to €300m, in private mid-sized businesses.
Of the 200 limited partners (LPs) participating in the fund, approximately 80 were returning investors from AEF V, contributing nearly half of the capital raised with an average 13% increase in their commitments. At the same time, AEF VI welcomed nearly 120 new investors, including more than 50 first-time Ardian clients.
Geographically, the fund has attracted a highly diversified group of investors, with LPs from 28 countries across the world, with notable growth in commitments from LPs in MENA, the Americas, Asia, the UK, the Nordics, and the Netherlands. Ardian saw an uptick in commitments from pension funds and private wealth investors, with private wealth clients accounting for 25% of the fund’s LP base, compared to 16% for AEF V. This group includes 33 CEOs and members of senior management from previous Ardian Expansion portfolio companies.
Already 33% deployed, the fund has completed eight transactions in category-leading companies.
As a pioneer in the concept of sharing value, Ardian distributes a portion of its capital gains to employees of its portfolio companies at exit. To date, 81% of Expansion portfolio companies have benefited from this initiative, with 8,000 employees across 20 exits since AEF III receiving a share of the activity’s capital gains. Under AEF VI, an average of 250 employee shareholders per investment will benefit from this mechanism.
The fundraising announcement follows the recent close of Ardian’s first private equity Continuation Fund for Syclef, a leading European firm specialising in the installation and maintenance of refrigeration and air conditioning systems. Ardian’s Expansion team first invested in Syclef in 2020 and helped it consolidate its market position, including through M&A to expand internationally, and will now support it in its next stage of growth.
