European private equity firm PAI Partners has completed one of the largest fundraisings of the year, closing its latest buy-out fund with €7.1bn ($7.6bn) in capital commitments to invests in “real-economy” companies in Europe and North America.
PAI Partners VIII, which surpassed the firm’s target of €7bn, is about 40% larger than its predecessor fund, which raised €5.1bn in 2018, and is the third-largest raised by a European buyout firm this year, behind CVC Capital Partners’ record €26bn vehicle and Permira’s €16.7bn fund.
The fund received strong support from public and private pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions and family offices, with growth in commitments from every region. The fund secured a re-up rate of circa 90% and over €2bn of capital sourced from new investors,
Fund VIII has already deployed circa 35% of its total capital with seven investments to date, including ECG/Vacanceselect, NovaTaste, the Looping Group, ECF Group, Azets Group, Infra Group and Alphia, Inc.
