NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- U.S. private equity firms in 2006 smashed the previous fund-raising record, reaping $215.4 billion among 322 funds by the close of the year, according to Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst, an industry newsletter that has been tracking capital flowing into this asset class since 1991.
The private equity industry maintained a galloping pace throughout the year, breaking year 2000's previous fund-raising record back in early November, and continuing to top it by 22% at year's end. The year's total was also 33% more capital than was raised by U.S. firms in 2005. Private equity includes buyout and corporate finance funds, venture capital, mezzanine funds and funds of funds.
"The robust fund-raising climate was buoyed by investors' willingness to plunge ever-larger sums into this asset class as well as buyout firms pursuing bigger acquisitions at a faster pace," said Jennifer Rossa, managing editor of The Private Equity Analyst. "We saw buyout firms willing to put this war chest of capital to work right away and take advantage of cheap debt in the market as they made sizeable deals over the year."
The buyout side of the private equity industry was the primary focus of the bonanza, representing $148.8 billion of the total raised in 2006. In fact, eight large buyout firms were responsible for 34% of the total $215.4 billion, and almost half the total (49%) raised in buyout funds alone. The largest funds were raised by Bain Capital, First Reserve Corp., Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., and Texas Pacific Group. In calculating totals, Private Equity Analyst only includes capital closed on during the year.
Venture capital funds, which were responsible for much of the capital raised during the previous record-breaking year of 2000, raised $25.1 billion, a 2% decline from 2005. However, mezzanine funds -- bolstered by the success in the private equity market -- raised $20.4 billion, a record one-year total and a five times increase over 2005.
The 2006 fund-raising totals and the outlook for 2007 will be discussed further at the Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst Outlook Conference, Jan. 30 and 31, at the Grand Hyatt in New York. For more information or to register for the conference, contact (866) 291-1800, or view the complete agenda at: http://peaoutlook.dowjones.com/.
For more information about The Private Equity Analyst, or its online component, Private Equity Analyst Plus go to: www.privateequity.dowjones.com/.
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Private Equity Analyst (www.privateequity.dowjones.com), published by Dow Jones Financial Information Services group, is the leading provider of data, news and analysis for private equity professionals. Related products include the daily online newsletter LBO Wire and the online database, Private Equity Analyst Plus, a series of senior level executive conferences including the Private Equity Analyst Conferences (NY and London), the Private Equity Analyst Outlook Conference (NY) and The Limited Partners Summit series (NY, SF, Europe); cutting edge research reports on critical private equity topics such as terms and conditions, compensation and liquidity trends; and the most respected and referenced directories for the industry including Galante's Venture Capital & Private Equity Directory and The Directory of Alternative Investment Programs.
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