Equistone Partners Europe closed its latest private equity fund at a hard cap of €2.8 billion ($3.4 billion), completing fundraising within four months.
A news release Monday said Equistone Partners Europe Fund VI had commitments from a number of institutional investors alongside the Equistone team.
A person close to the fundraising said the fund close was substantially below demand, which was around €4 billion. A spokesman declined to comment. The firm's previous fund, Equistone Partners Europe Fund V, closed in April 2015 at its hard cap of €2 billion.
The fund invests in buyouts valued between €50 million and €500 million, targeting businesses in Western Europe. Investors in Western Europe and the Nordics accounted for 56% of capital raised, North America accounted for 28% and the remaining 16% came from rest of the world. Investors included pension plans, funds of funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies.
Commitments came from a combination of new and existing institutional investors, said Guillaume Jacqueau, managing partner of Equistone Partners Europe, in the release. In December, the $56 billion Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System, Harrisburg, committed €85 million to the fund.
