FRENCH private equity (PE) group Ardian has raised a record US$30 billion in the largest-ever secondary market fundraising globally. This is Ardian’s ninth such fundraising since 1999, and is 57.9 per cent more than the US$19 billion it last raised in 2020, the company said on Thursday (Jan 16).
Secondary private equity deals are those where existing investors sell their stakes in unlisted companies to new investors. They also refer to sales of a company stake to a new fund arranged by a PE company.
Global activity in such deals in what was previously a niche market has surged in the past few years, as higher interest rates and a slowdown in dealmaking are squeezing the US$4 trillion buyout industry.
Ardian said the financing was oversubscribed, highlighting “the continued and growing appetite for secondaries investments… as market volatility and the need for liquidity drove deal volumes to record highs in 2024”.
Data provider Private Equity International said the volumes in the secondaries market were on track to hit US$146 billion last year.
Ardian’s latest sale drew more than 465 investors from 44 countries across Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Asia. They included major pension funds, insurers, sovereign wealth funds and high-net-worth individuals.
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About 22 per cent of investors were private wealth clients.
The sale boosts Ardian’s secondaries and primaries assets under management to US$97 billion.
The ninth fund was already 50 per cent deployed, diversified across sectors such as finance, healthcare, telecommunications, media and technology, Won Ha, managing director and head of Singapore and South Korea at Ardian, told BT.
The deployment is also focused on developed markets such as the US, Europe and parts of Asia.
“As a secondary player, we like more stable returns with a predictable cash yield. As a result, we have more exposure to developed countries,” he said.
He added that the fund aims to generate a net yield of around the “high-teens” percentage level.
