Blackstone’s debut GP-led secondaries vehicle reaches $2bn mark

Strategic Partners, the top firm in this year’s SI 50 ranking, has surpassed the target for its debut GP-led strategy, Secondaries Investor has learned.

The Blackstone secondaries unit has raised at least $2 billion for Strategic Partners GP Solutions, according to four sources familiar with the matter. The fund launched last year with a $1.5 billion target size, according to Secondaries Investor data.

Filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission show that Strategic Partners GP Solutions had raised $1.41 billion as of early October. Filings for a separate vehicle, Strategic Partners GP Solutions – I (Overage), on the same date show that fund had raised $85.16 million.

A spokesperson for Blackstone declined to comment.

The strategy is being raised alongside Strategic Partners’ flagship private equity secondaries vehicle, Strategic Partners Fund IX. That fund, which has a $13.5 billion target, had raised $17.2 billion as of the end of the third quarter and could be the secondaries market’s biggest pool ever when it closes.

Strategic Partners has also raised approximately $1 billion for Strategic Partners Real Estate VIII, its secondaries vehicle dedicated to that asset class, Secondaries Investor reported this month.

ICG‘s Strategic Equity team exceeded its $5 billion target for ICG Strategic Equity IV, Secondaries Investor reported earlier this year. The raise is understood to be the largest dedicated pool of capital focusing on GP-led secondaries. LGT Capital Partners hit its hard-cap over a $1 billion target for Crown Secondaries Special Opportunities II, which will invest directly in companies as well as GP-leds, according to a statement. Secondaries Investor is aware of at least three other firms seeking to raise capital for dedicated GP-led strategies.

Over half of LPs plan to find the cash to commit to private equity secondaries funds over the next 12 months – the highest proportion of respondents to express their interest in the market since 2019, results from affiliate title Private Equity International’s LP Perspectives 2023 Study show. Almost two-thirds said they have no plans to invest in dedicated GP-led secondaries funds.