Carlyle’s AlpInvest Unit Raises $9 Billion for Buyout Stakes

(Bloomberg) -- AlpInvest Partners has raised $9 billion for its latest fund to focus on buying stakes in existing private equity investments.

That’s the largest amount raised yet by the Carlyle Group Inc.-owned money manager, which has more than $49 billion of assets. The firm pulled in a further $1.2 billion for co-investment opportunities alongside the fund, according to a statement Wednesday.

The capital raising topped AlpInvest’s $8 billion target and caps a busy year for so-called secondaries funds. Such investments have brought in around $75 billion this year, almost triple 2019’s haul, according to data provider Preqin. They included a record $19 billion for Ardian’s eighth flagship fund.

Secondaries deals have grown in popularity as private-equity investors seek more flexibility to exit funds before they expire. Managers have also turned to the market to create funds that enable them to hold onto assets longer.

The AlpInvest Secondaries Program VII fund expects to have invested around 18% of its capital by year-end, AlpInvest managing directors Wouter Moerel and Chris Perriello said in an interview. In September, it led a $460 million recapitalization of an investment vehicle run by Kinderhook Industries LLC.

The fund also bought a private equity portfolio of holdings at a 20% discount to net asset value, taking advantage of price drops at the start of the pandemic outbreak, the two executives said, without naming the assets or seller.

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