HarbourVest raises $3.6b for global secondaries fund

The LP base comprises a broad range of corporate and public pension funds, Taft Hartley pension plans, endowments and foundations. The fund will make secondary investments in venture capital, leveraged buyout, and other private equity assets, as well as portfolios of operating companies, manager spin-outs, and structured transactions.

In Asia, HarbourVest has participated in two spin-outs from investment banks: working with several other secondaries players, it supported the spin-out of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Asia private equity team into NewQuest Capital Partners in 2011; and earlier this year it led the acquisition of a portfolio of assets managed by Asia Growth Capital Advisors but still owned by Credit Suisse, the GP's former parent.

Given the challenging fundraising environment in Asia, HarbourVest is now examining opportunities to buy assets or entire portfolios directly, or provide top-up capital to managers.

"A critical component of our success is our ability to leverage HarbourVest's platform of relationships with fund managers across the private markets which give us informed insight into the secondary assets we evaluate," Brett Gordon, managing director at HarbourVest, said in response to the successful fundraise. "We use this unique perspective to identify attractive assets that offer compelling investment opportunities for our clients."

Dover VIII has already closed on four transactions globally, the largest of which is the acquisition of the assets of Conversus Capital.

When the Dover series started in 2001, secondaries deal flow was dominated by trading in traditional LP interests. In recent years, secondary direct and structured investments have accounted for the bulk of activity.

Several global secondaries fund have been raised since the beginning of the year, most recently Adams Street Partners, which announced a final close of $1 billion - surpassing its $750 million target - in May. Others include vehicles managed by StepStone, LGT Capital Partners and Deutsche Bank.

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• Topics
• Fundraising
• Secondaries
• Secondaries
• Fundraising
• HarbourVest Partners