Asia, Middle East LPs put up 30% of BC Partners’ buyout fund

BC European Capital IX is the largest Europe-focused fund raised since CVC Capital Partners attracted EUR10.75 billion in January 2009. The growing significance of Asian LPs was also apparent in EQT's most recent European vehicle, which closed last October at EUR4.75 billion. Investors from the region were responsible for 23% of commitments, compared to 7% in the previous vehicle.

Charlie Bott, managing partner and head of investor relations at BC, admitted that competition in Europe's buyout space is weakening as underperforming private equity firms struggle to raise new funds. Most of BC's commitments came before concerns about the euro-zone plunged the region into uncertainty.

Although the fund was oversubscribed - the initial target was EUR6 billion - and there was substantial interest from existing investors, those who chose to re-up cut their contributions by an average of 25%. BC reportedly offered a 5% discount to investors who pledged capital ahead of the fund's first close in early 2011 and agreed to end transaction fees billed each time the firm or one of its portfolio companies makes an acquisition.

BC has already closed one deal, buying Scandinavian cable company Com Hem from The Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners. It expects secondary buyouts to account for one third of the corpus, with further thirds committed to companies divesting non-core assets and family-owned firms selling out, respectively.

Other European private equity firms, including Apax Partners, Cinven and Permira Advisors, are also in the process of raising buyout funds.

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• Topics
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• BC Partners
• Fundraising
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