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Paris-based firm Astorg has secured €4 billion (about $4.4 billion) for the latest iteration of its flagship fund, having revised its initial target of €6.5 billion to €4.5 billion.  

Fund VIII—which launched in December 2021 at the tail end of a boom period for private equity fundraising before market conditions soured last year—is still on course to be bigger than its predecessor. Astorg's last flagship vehicle closed at €4.24 billion, more than €1 billion above its target, in early 2019.

The fund targets investment in healthcare, technology, business services and industrials.

The fund, which is targeting a January 2024 close, is currently Europe's seventh-largest open PE fund. It comes in behind Bridgepoint's Europe VII fund, which has so far raised €5.4 billion. EQT's X fund is the largest at €17.3 billion.  
If the fund does close this year—ahead of its target—it would be the fourth-largest to close in Europe in 2023 following KKR's European Fund VI, which closed in April at €7.45 billion. CVC's record-breaking Capital Partners Fund IX, which closed last week at €26 billion, tops the list.

European PE fundraising during 2023 has so far been stronger than what was expected at the start of the year. Funds raised during 2023 are currently on track to exceed 2022's full year total, according to PitchBook's Q2 2023 European Private Equity Breakdown.

Nicolas Moura, an EMEA private capital analyst at PitchBook, suggests a record year may even be possible. "At the end of Q2, we had €49 billion in fundraising, to which we can now add CVC and this Astorg fundraise, and we are already at €80 billion for the year," he said.

Large funds continue to account for the majority of activity, with LPs almost exclusively allocating to experienced fund houses.

"The environment is still tough for fundraising, and we have seen sponsors pushing back their close date into next year such as EQT,” Moura said. “The fact Astorg lowered its target size is definitely a sign of how tough it has been to raise funds in the current climate."

PitchBook's recent France Private Capital Breakdown highlighted how PE fundraising had a slow start to the year there, with just €0.6 billion raised in the first three months by a single fund, Andera Partners. Since then, in addition to Astorg, Lyon-based ArchiMed's MED Platform II fund has also closed at €3.5 billion, as well as a couple of small funds. 

Featured image by Alexander Spatari/Getty Images

This article originally appeared on PitchBook News