French group Ardian has raised more than $20 billion, including $6 billion from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, for a new secondary fund that will target the acquisition of stakes in private equity funds from investors, according to a report by The Financial Times.
French group Ardian has raised more than $20 billion, including $6 billion from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, for a new secondary fund that will target the acquisition of stakes in private equity funds from investors, according to a report by The Financial Times.
The report cites unnamed sources familiar with the matter as saying that Paris-based Ardian, which has around $150 billion under management, is ultimately targeting $25 billion for the new fund.
Secondary funds offer pension funds and other investors the chance to secure an early exit from private equity buyout investments, which typically lock up investor cash for more than a decade, and have become increasingly common as institutional investors have upped their PE allocations in recent years.
According to investment bank Raymond James, the value of deals agreed by secondary funds reached $105 billion last year, almost five times the level seen ten years ago.
