Ardian raises $19b for global secondaries fund

It continues a steady increase in Ardian’s fund sizes through the vintages. The firm crossed the $10 billion threshold with Fund VI in 2014 then closed Fund VII at $14 billion two years later. Total assets under management now amount to $96 billion, with direct, infrastructure, private debt, and real estate vehicles managed alongside the flagship fund-of-funds offering.

The Ardian fund-of-funds platform, which covers primary and secondary commitments, now has $53 billion in assets and exposure to more than 10,000 portfolio companies through 1,600 underlying funds. Fund VIII features 275 LPs from nearly 40 countries, including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, high net worth individuals, and financial institutions.

Ardian observed that the fundraise highlights how secondaries can be an important source of liquidity for investors, with many expected to re-balance portfolios in response to COVID-19. “In the current environment, the secondaries market has a crucial role to play in providing institutional investors with liquidity. It is a vital tool for pension funds and investors in how they allocate investments in private equity,” Vincent Gombault, head of fund-of-funds, said in a statement.

Speaking to AVCJ in March, several Asia-focused secondaries investors predicted that more opportunities would come out of COVID-19, but they declined to be drawn on the likely timeline. Travel restrictions and uncertainty around pricing – due to valuation volatility – were cited as the major obstacles.

Ardian alone absorbs a significant portion of the global secondaries market volume, which Greenhill put at $88 billion in 2019. Growth was driven in part by the continued prevalence of large transactions with 23 deals of $1 billion or more completed during the 12 months. They included Ardian’s purchase of a $5 billion portfolio from Japan’s Norinchukin Bank, which has been described as the largest-ever secondary transaction.

The firm established its first office in Asia in Singapore 15 years ago. A Beijing office followed in 2014 and then Tokyo and Seoul bases opened for business in 2018.

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