Ardian raises a record $19 billion for secondary fund of funds

Paris-based private equity firm Ardian has raised a record $19 billion for its new secondary fund of funds from 275 investors, including Korea Post and the Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA) from South Korea.

Last year, Korea Post’s savings arm and POBA committed $100 million and $50 million each to Ardian for secondary investment, or buying secondary interest in private equity funds.

“There was particularly strong growth among Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern investors, reflecting Ardian’s increasingly diversified and international client base,” it said in a statement on June 2.

The investors are composed of major pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, insurance firms, high-net-worth individuals and financial institutions from nearly 40 countries.

The fundraising includes $5 billion in co-investment commitments.

The latest fund of funds, the eighth platform for Arian, became the world’s largest secondaries platform and surpassed the $14 billion for its seventh platform raised in 2016, according to the company.

Ardian’s fund of funds platform, covering both primary and secondary fund of funds, has $53 billion in assets under management, with exposure to more than 10,000 portfolio companies through 1,600 underlying funds.

The French investment firm invests across five segments: fund of funds, direct funds, infrastructure, real estate and private debt funds.

With $96 billion in assets under management, Ardian plans to increase investments in Asia, including companies, real estate and infrastructure in South Korea, its Asia head Jan Philipp Schmitz told the Korean Investors in an interview last year.

Write to Hyun-il Lee at hiuneal@hankyung.com