Cerberus seeks $3 billion for flagship private equity fund

Cerberus Capital Management LP is seeking $3 billion for its latest flagship fund, which will pursue investments ranging from private equity to the debt of companies in financial distress, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. 

The New York-based firm, whose investments include U.S. supermarket operator Albertsons Companies, Japanese industrial conglomerate Toshiba Corporation and German lenders Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, is in the early stages of raising Cerberus Institutional Partners VII, the sources said.

Cerberus declined to comment.

The firm’s previous flagship fund, Cerberus Institutional Partners VI, raised $4 billion in 2017, and has struggled to generate a profit. It returned just 1.06 times its investors’ capital as of the end of September 2019, according to a regulatory filing from NB Crossroads Private Markets Fund IV Holdings LLC, one of its investors.

That Cerberus fund succeeded Cerberus Institutional Partners V, which amassed $2.6 billion in 2012 and delivered 1.7 times its investors’ money as of the end of March 2020, according to one of the investors, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

Founded in 1992 by Stephen Feinberg and William Richter, Cerberus has more than $48 billion in assets under management spread across credit, private equity and real estate, according to its website.

Named after the Greek mythical many-headed dog that guards the gates of the underworld, Cerberus made its mark on Wall Street by investing in risky corporate debt, such as non-performing loans, as well as companies in need of a turnaround.

Source: Reuters