TPG secures $750m for its debut GP-led fund

TPG has raised $750 million for its debut GP-led-focused secondaries strategy, and has “line of sight” to reach $1 billion, CEO Jon Winkelried said in its second-quarter earnings call.

TPG GP Solutions, which focuses on opportunities in Europe and North America, launched at the beginning of 2022, according to Secondaries Investor data.

It’s not clear how much TPG GP Solutions is targeting. During early conversations with potential LPs, TPG talked about a target of up to $2 billion, affiliate title Buyouts reported.

TPG’s secondaries platform, which also includes APAC-focused NewQuest Capital Partners, “has been very busy” with more opportunities arising as GPs look for avenues to find liquidity, president Todd Sisitsky said on the call. “That’s another… area that we think will be fruitful in the next few quarters.”

TPG GP Solutions, which held a closing at the end of the quarter, has completed four transactions to date, Winkelried said. It has taken lead roles on sizeable deals in recent months.

The firm emerged as a co-lead on pan-European mid-market investment firm Oakley Capital’s €1 billion-plus continuation fund for German university group IU Group, Secondaries Investor reported.

The transaction was sourced through TPG’s Rise team, Winkelried said, adding it is “a great example of our successful organic growth strategy, where we build new platforms on the full chassis of TPG and create shared incentives for our investment professionals to source opportunities and collaborate across business units”.

HarbourVest Partners, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Glendower Capital and Pantheon also backed the Oakley deal, according to a later statement about the transaction.

TPG was also a co-lead on San Francisco-headquartered mid-market firm Calera Capital’s $700 million-plus single-asset continuation fund for US healthcare laundry service company ImageFIRST, Secondaries Investor reported. Goldman Sachs Asset Management was the lead investor, with Blackstone Strategic Partners and Portfolio Advisors also lining up as co-leads.

TPG hired Michael Woolhouse in 2020 to create and lead a secondaries platform pursuing GP-led deals in Europe and the US. Woolhouse led secondaries at CPP Investments before joining TPG.

The firm also brought on Matt Jones, who formerly co-led Pantheon’s global secondaries team, to co-head the strategy alongside Woolhouse in 2022.

Capital raised in final closes for secondaries strategies across all asset classes between January and June rose to $37.2 billion, according to Secondaries Investor data. This marks a 29 percent jump on the same period last year, and is roughly in line with the amount raised in H1 2021.

Capital is going into fewer hands, however, with 16 vehicles taking all the capital in the first half of the year. In full calendar year 2022, a total of 61 funds held final close, compared with 86 the year prior.