Buyout fundraising in Europe shows increasing levels after a decline in 2023, with mid-market private equity firm Inflexion hitting its hard cap.
European mid-market private equity firm Inflexion closed its Inflexion Enterprise Fund VI at a hard cap of £975 million ($1.3 billion) in September, more than double the size of its predecessor fund, which raised £400 million ($523.4 million). The fundraising was completed in just five months, according to a report from Preqin.
As of September 9, 2024, Inflexion's fund is one of 80 buyout funds closed by Europe-based managers this year. The largest fund raised so far is EQT X, which closed at €22 billion ($24 billion) in February, exceeding its €20 billion ($22.1 billion) target. With 77 of these funds focusing primarily on Europe, the year is on track to surpass 2023's total of 80 Europe-focused buyout funds.
Inflexion recorded several successful exits, including Automotive Transformation Group in May 2024 and Goat Agency in March 2023. The firm has approximately £11 billion ($14.4 billion) in assets under management (AUM).
Enterprise Fund VI is classified as an Article 8 fund under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and predominantly drew support from Inflexion's existing blue-chip institutional investors across the US, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The fund has achieved an impressive return on realized investments, boasting a gross multiple of 4.4x and a gross internal rate of return (IRR) of 42%.
Currently, there are 195 Europe-focused buyout funds in the fundraising pipeline, targeting $78.5 billion. In addition, there are 176 growth funds, 182 venture capital funds, and 170 early-stage funds being raised by European managers.