Ardian raises $19bn for secondary private equity investments

The $96 billion global private equity firm Ardian announced that it has closed a record $19 billion in secondary private equity investments. The secondaries pool includes $5 billion for co-investments, and significantly exceeds Ardian’s preceding secondaries fund, ASF VII which came in at $14 billion in 2016. “In the current environment, the secondaries market has a crucial role to play in providing institutional investors with liquidity,” said Vincent Gombault, member of the executive committee and head of Ardian Fund of Funds. “It is a vital tool for pension funds and investors in how they allocate investments in private equity.” Ardian’s Fund of Funds platform (formerly Axa Private Equity) is led by teams in New York and London. The fund of funds team now has $53 billion in assets under management with exposure to more than 10,000 portfolio companies via 1,600 underlying funds. The latest fundraise came from 275 investors across newly 40 countries, including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, high-net-worth individuals and financial institutions, according to the firm. Gombault added that while the new funds were a milestone of the firm’s fund of funds platform, it is more notable the maturity the market has achieved, which will only grow in importance for private equity investors. The firm said that investors are looking to rebalance private equity portfolios and seek yield opportunities amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. “This clearly demonstrates the confidence in Ardian and the secondaries platform that we have grown and developed over the years,” said Olivier Decanniere, member of the executive committee and head of Ardian UK. “Our ability to offer our investors diversified private equity exposure underpinned by strong returns is more relevant and compelling now than it ever has been.”

Ardian raises $19bn for secondary private equity investments

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