AlpInvest targets $500m for single asset-focused fund

The Carlyle unit's Atom Fund comes as the firm bids farewell to one of its co-heads and focuses more on credit.

The Carlyle Group’s AlpInvest Partners has joined the small group of firms raising dedicated GP-led funds as it undergoes a change in leadership and rebrands some of its strategies.

The group is targeting $500 million for AlpInvest Atom Fund, its inaugural single asset continuation fund-focused vehicle, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The fund, which has held a first close and is expected to reach a final close this month, will only back single asset GP-leds, and will only invest in deals that its flagship fund is investing in, according to one of the sources.

The fundraise comes as firms including Blackstone, ICG and Pantheon eye dedicated GP-led funds, with some of them having already held final closes on their respective vehicles.

Strategic Partners raised at least $2 billion for Strategic Partners GP Solutions as of last month, as Secondaries Investor reported, while ICG raised more than $5 billion for the market’s largest dedicated GP-led fund in June.

Amsterdam-headquartered AlpInvest is also bidding farewell to one of its senior and long-standing investment professionals. Wouter Moerel, who has been co-head alongside Chris Perriello, is understood to be retiring from the firm and will first transition to a senior advisory role in the new year. He will retire upon full deployment of AlpInvest Secondaries Program VII in the middle of next year, Secondaries Investor understands.

The firm is also rebranding its activities with a focus on credit. Its team is now called secondary and portfolio finance, with Perriello as global head of secondaries and partner Mike Hacker as global had of portfolio finance, a Carlyle spokesperson confirmed.

The firm’s portfolio finance business was conceived in 2018, according to the spokesperson.

Bloomberg first reported on Moerel’s retirement plans and the firm’s shift of focus to credit.

AlpInvest’s Atom fund is understood to give the firm more buying power in single asset continuation fund processes. Secondaries Investor understands AlpInvest’s $9 billion seventh programme has a 15 percent cap on single-asset transactions.

The vehicle had already completed four transactions at the end of October, one of the sources noted.

AlpInvest is expected to launch its predecessor Atom Fund II alongside its next flagship raise.

The AlpInvest spokesperson declined to comment on fundraising and the Atom fund.

– Adam Le contributed to this report.