Fund Friday: Top fundraising news in private equity

ICG secured $11bn for its fifth GP-led secondaries fund, ICG Strategic Equity Fund V, surpassing its $6bn target and more than doubling the size of its previous fund, which closed at $5.3bn in 2022.

Oversubscribed at its hard cap, the fund underscores strong investor demand for GP-led secondary market opportunities.

Since 2014, ICG Strategic Equity has committed over $19bn to GP-led secondaries. The new fund will continue investing in single-asset continuation vehicles for high-quality companies across North America and Western Europe, partnering with top private equity sponsors. Find out more about ICG’s fundraising efforts at Italy’s largest Private Equity Conference in Milan.

CVC closed its third-generation Strategic Opportunities fund at €4.61bn, maintaining the size of its predecessor while significantly expanding its investor base.

The latest fundraising pushes total commitments across the platform’s three vintages to over €13bn, reinforcing demand for long-term private equity strategies.

The Strategic Opportunities platform focuses on stable, high-quality businesses in Europe and North America, offering an extended investment horizon compared to traditional private equity. CVC, which recently joined the Nordics Private Equity Conference in Stockholm, aims to drive sustained value creation, often partnering with founding families or foundations looking for strategic growth capital.

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Carlyle Group is setting its sights on raising more than $3bn for its latest infrastructure-focused vehicle, Carlyle Global Infrastructure Opportunity Fund II, as it seeks to expand its footprint in the asset class, according to sources cited by Bloomberg.

The private equity giant has begun preliminary discussions with potential investors, though details remain confidential. A Carlyle spokesperson declined to comment.

Carlyle has recently joined the UK Private Equity Conference in London.

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Garnett Station Partners (GSP), a New York-based principal investment firm, closed its latest private equity fund, GSP 5.0, at $1.2bn.

The oversubscribed fund, which hit its hard cap in just four months, brings the firm’s total assets under management to over $3.5bn.

With Fund 5, Garnett Station will continue its strategy of partnering with founders and management teams to scale businesses across its core investment sectors, including consumer and business services, health & wellness, automotive, and food & beverage. The rapid fundraising reflects strong investor confidence in GSP’s approach to value creation and operational scaling.

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Northleaf Capital Partners closed its third private credit fund, raising over $1bn for Northleaf Private Credit III (NPC III) and related managed accounts.

The milestone pushes Northleaf’s private credit platform past $6.5bn in total assets.

NPC III focuses on mid-market private equity-backed lending and asset-based specialty finance, targeting opportunities across the capital structure. The fund provides investors with exposure to both senior and junior private credit investments, emphasizing strong contractual cash yield, conservative leverage, and robust lender protections.