Boston Globe – Money, money everywhere.
Boston’s private equity firms are in the midst of unprecedented fund-raising that will fuel even greater levels of investing over the next several years. Endowments, pension funds, and other institutional investors are throwing as many billions at them as they can handle.
The example of the moment: TA Associates closed yesterday on two new funds that will invest $4.3 billion combined. Its new private equity fund will invest $3.5 billion, and an accompanying subordinated debt fund will manage another $777.5 million. TA’s last offering combining private equity and subordinated-debt funds raised $2.5 billion in 2000.
Coming soon: Bain Capital may close two new private-equity funds approaching $10 billion combined as soon as Friday, almost certainly within the next two weeks. They will represent Boston’s biggest-ever private equity fund-raising effort and place the new Bain funds in an elite class among the largest anywhere. Thomas H. Lee Partners is raising money, too. It is expected to create a new fund in the $8 billion range.
These fund-raising efforts and other, smaller campaigns around Boston will lead to even greater investing clout. Private equity firms dip into money contributed by limited partners and then borrow more cash from lenders to leverage the investing power of their funds.
