Permira Closes Buyout Fund Above Target at €16.7 Billion

9 March 2023

• The Fund had a re-up rate of >90% and exceeded its target size of €15bn
• Permira will continue to seek to partner with management teams of global market leaders to back growth at scale
• Fundraise brings total committed capital to €77bn

Permira, the global private equity firm, today announced the final close of its latest flagship buyout fund, Permira VIII (“P8” or “the Fund”), with total capital commitments of €16.7bn. The Fund saw strong demand from investors, closing above its target size of €15bn, which represents a ~50% increase in size compared to its predecessor, P7, which closed at €11bn in 2019.

P8 will follow Permira’s thematic investment strategy of seeking to partner with market-leading businesses benefitting from long-term, structural and resilient growth drivers. Through using its extensive global network, sector-aligned value creation expertise, and collaborative and entrepreneurial approach, Permira’s team of 185+ investment professionals will continue to back management teams globally to seek to scale their businesses successfully, sustainably and for the long term across four sectors of deep expertise: Technology, Consumer, Healthcare and Services. The strategy draws upon Permira’s near 40-year track record of investing in businesses where technology is, or is expected to be, a significant part of their growth trajectory.

As Permira aims to further integrate ESG and sustainability risks and opportunities into its buyout funds’ investment and value creation strategies where appropriate, a values-based investing approach will play a key role in the deployment and portfolio management of P8. The Fund will aim to adhere to specific, fund-level targets relating to climate, gender diversity and governance, which will be reported on annually throughout the Fund’s lifecycle.

P8 secured investment from a globally diversified base of leading international investors, including public and private pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, institutional fund managers and family offices of entrepreneurs. The Fund had a re-up rate of over 90% and welcomed over 50 new investors.

P8 has already committed capital to four companies globally: Mimecast, Zendesk, Reorg and Acuity Knowledge Partners.

This latest fundraise follows the $4bn closing of Permira’s second growth equity fund – Permira Growth Opportunities II (“PGO II”) – in December 2021, exceeding its target of $2.5bn. Together, we believe the two funds enable Permira to invest flexibly across the most compelling investment opportunities globally, whilst leveraging the breadth of expertise available from Permira’s wide network and deep sector expertise.

Kurt Björklund, Managing Partner at Permira, said: “This fundraise is testament to the close relationships we have built with investors over nearly four decades, and an investment strategy that backs rapidly growing companies and highly resilient market leaders. Across both P8 and PGO II, we now have committed capital of more than €20 billion to invest across both our buyout and growth equity strategies. I’d like to thank all of our investors for their continued and unwavering support.

“P8 comes at an exciting time, when we can continue to execute on our thematic, growth-focused investment strategy, whilst also applying it through the lens of values-based investing. We believe the four investments from P8 so far are a clear demonstration of this. We look forward to partnering with outstanding entrepreneurs and management teams to build the leading companies of tomorrow.”

Source: Permira