Partners Group closed its latest private equity secondary investment fund at €2.5 billion ($2.8 billion) after reaching its hard cap.
Partners Group Secondary 2015 succeeds Partners Group Secondary 2011, which closed at €2 billion in 2012.
The fund has a value-based investment approach. Partners Group said in a news release that the firm saw significant deal flow, screening more than $91 billion in private equity secondary opportunities. But the high-price environment last year meant the firm declined 99% of this volume, the news release said.
Investors include new and previous institutional investors, including the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System, Harrisburg. The $51.9 billion pension fund committed $100 million to Partners Group Secondary 2015 in March 2015, in what was its third investment in a Partners Group secondary fund.
“Since the close of our 2011 program, the private equity secondary market has further matured and is today an established portfolio management tool among the most sophisticated private markets investors,” said Stephan Schali, partner, co-head private equity at Partners Group, in the release. “As a result, we benefit from increased deal flow, providing us with a range of attractive investment opportunities globally. Given the current volatility in equity markets, we expect prices to come down from recent highs and are poised to take advantage of the improved conditions for buyers.”
Partners Group has invested more than $13 billion in private equity secondary investments since 1998.
