Strategic Partners collects $7.5bn for Fund VII

Strategic Partners has beaten its initial hard-cap and is expected to hold the final close on its latest private equity secondaries fund before the end of January, Secondaries Investor has learned.

The Blackstone unit amassed $7.5 billion for Strategic Partners Fund VII, according to a source familiar with the fundraising. The vehicle launched in August 2015 with a $5.75 billion target, according to PEI data. It is understood the firm’s original $6.5 billion hard-cap referred to third-party capital and it raised the hard-cap due to increased appetite from investors.

The $7.5 billion figure includes a general partner commitment.

Fund VII will allocate 75 percent to buyouts, 10 percent to venture capital, 10 percent to mezzanine and 5 percent to distressed, real assets, funds of funds and other funds, according to documents presented to the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System in February.

Limited partners in the fund include North Carolina Retirement System, which committed $50 million, and Minnesota State Board of Investment, which committed $150 million, according to PEI data.

The fundraise is a 70 percent jump from its previous vehicle, which closed on $4.4 billion in 2014 after a year of fundraising.

Strategic Partners was ranked third in Secondaries Investor‘s Si 30 September ranking of the biggest fundraisers and had raised $16.2 billion between January 2011 and June 2016. The firm has also been active in real estate secondaries and in September hit its $1.3 billion hard-cap for Strategic Partners Real Estate Fund VI.

There were at least 55 funds seeking a combined $34.9 billion of dedicated private equity secondaries capital as of mid-December, according to PEI data.

Strategic Partners declined to comment.