The buyout groups are pressing ahead with raising huge funds for European takeovers. The spur for Thursday’s latest Bloomberg story was a monthly update from Private Equity Intelligence, that mentioned that KKR and PAI Partners are in the middle of raising their largest European funds yet.
KKR is seeking €7.7bn for its third European fund, while PAI is looking to gather €10bn for its Europe V fund. The move comes despite the slowed pace of leveraged buyouts after the contraction in credit globally, says the story.
Deal Journal earlier this week posted this chart which demonstrated just how abruptly the buyout boom has stalled. The last mega-buyout was back at the beginning of July, with Blackstone’s deal to buy Hilton Hotels, which for those of us spoilt by the multi-billion dollar deal-a-day menu of the first six months of the year is quite some diet.
But the continued efforts to raise huge pots of money aren’t necessarily a surprise.
How enduring, or severe, the restrictions on financing LBOs will prove once this has played out remains to be seen. Debt is getting more expensive. But, as the FTSE 100 on Thursday dropped below the 6,000 level and resolutely stayed there, the buyout groups’ targets are just getting cheaper.
Private Equity Intelligence told FT Alphaville that there are a total of 51 European focused buyout funds doing the rounds seeking $52bn in target commitments. Here’s their list of the top 10 fundraisings on the road at present:
