Global Credit Crisis? Record 2008 Fund Raising for PE Firms
Despite the global credit crisis, private equity firms have raised record amounts of cash so far this year - and that cash will be seeking outlets.
According to the monthly Private Equity International (PEI), buyout funds globally are currently sitting on USD 1 trillion in uninvested capital, much of it from employee pension funds. Buyout funds raised USD 82 billion in the first quarter of 2008 - an increase of 28% over the record first quarter of 2007. Warburg Pincus has closed a USD 15 billion buyout fund, exceeding its target by over 3 billion; Apax Partners and Goldman Sachs have closed funds worth 18.2 and 15 billiion USD, respectively.
This year's second annual PEI ranking of the 50 largest buyout funds, based on funds raised over the past 5 years, shows an aggregate USD 810 billion in funds raised, a considerable increase over the total USD 551 billion contained in the 2007 rankings. Leverage that by a conservative multiple of 3, for example, and workers arer confronted with over USD 2.4 in concentrated buyout power.
The 2008 rankings show 11 new funds on the list, while 11 have disappeared from the league. All but one of the firms (Carlyle, which remains number 1) changed position with respect to the previous year's rankings. Here is the list - the number at the end indicates the 2007 ranking. Click here for the executive summary of the full report.
Top 50 Buyout Funds Ranked - 2008
1 The Carlyle Group Washington DC $52 billion 1
2 Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Area New York $49.05 billion 3
3 TPG Fort Worth (Texas) $48.75 billion 5
4 Kohlberg Kravis Roberts New York $39.67 billion 2
5 CVC Capital Partners London $36.84 billion 10
6 Apollo Management New York $32.82 billion 12
7 Bain Capital Boston $31.71 billion 8
8 Permira London $25.43 billion 6
9 Apax Partners London $25.23 billion 7
10 The Blackstone Group New York $23.3 billion 4
11 Warburg Pincus New York $23 billion 14
12 3i Group London $22.98 billion 13
13 Advent International Boston $18.32 billion 43
14 Terra Firma Capital Partners London $17 billion 15
15 American Capital Bethesda (Maryland) $17 billion 23
16 Providence Equity Partners Providence (Rhode Island) $16.36 billion 9
17 Silver Lake Menlo Park (California) $15.6 billion 19
18 Cerberus Capital Management New York $14.9 billion 34
19 AIG Investments New York $14.22 billion N/A
20 Fortress Investment Group New York $14.0 billion 27
21 General Atlantic Greenwich (Connecticut) $13.3 billion 18
22 PAI partners Paris $12.98 billion 35
23 First Reserve Corporation Greenwich (Connecticut) $12.82 billion 22
24 EQT Partners Stockholm $12.47 billion 21
25 Hellman & Friedman San Francisco $12 billion 16
26 Cinven London $11.93 billion 11
27 Bridgepoint London $11.7 billion 36
28 Clayton, Dubilier & Rice New York $11.38 billion 47
29 Teachers’ Private Capital Toronto $10.69 billion 20
30 Charterhouse Capital Partners London $10.52 billion 24
31 Lehman Brothers Private Equity New York $10.22 billion 25
32 Thomas H. Lee Partners Boston $10.1 billion 30
33 BC Partners London $9.26 billion 29
34 AXA Private Equity Paris $9.24 billion N/A
35 NGP Energy Capital Management Irving (Texas) $8.84 billion N/A
36 Oaktree Capital Management Los Angeles $8.4 billion 49
37 Marfin Investment Group Athens $8.15 billion N/A
38 Sun Capital Partners Boca Raton (Florida) $8 billion 28
39 Doughty Hanson & Co. London $7.44 billion 37
40 JC Flowers & Co. New York $7 billion N/A
41 TA Associates Boston $6.83 billion 39
42 Eurazeo Paris $6.75 billion N/A
43 New Mountain Capital New York $6.69 billion N/A
44 MatlinPatterson New York $6.67 billion N/A
45 WL Ross & Co. New York $6.65 billion N/A
46 EnCap Investments Houston $6.58 billion N/A
47 Madison Dearborn Partners Chicago $6.5 billion 32
48 Barclays Private Equity London $6.43 billion N/A
49 Onex Toronto $6.17 billion 33
50 Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe New York $5.88 billion 42