Australia-based Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) has reportedly closed an A$400 million ($265 million) single-asset continuation fund for a portfolio company in its fifth fund, Up Education.
AlpInvest Partners was said to be the anchor investor in the fund, which drew participation from a group of global institutional investors.
The development was reported by the Australia Financial Review and AVCJ.
DealStreetAsia has reached out to PEP for comments.
PEP sold half of its stake in New Zealand-based Up Education before rolling the remaining into the continuation vehicle, according to AFR. The buyout firm first invested in Up Education in 2015.
The firm has exited other companies in its fifth buyout fund. The firm’s sixth fund, which is understood to have raised A$2.5 billion, is 67% deployed, according to PEP’s website.
PEP’s private equity business has made 41 investments and over 150 bolt-on acquisitions. The business has delivered an average profit growth of 15-20% and annual leveraged returns of 25-30%.
PEP also operates two secure asset funds, private credit and PEP Gateway as its private wealth business.
The continuation fund for Up Education was not the first by PEP. Last year, it also exited half of its shares in energy infrastructure platform Intellihub to Brookfield and rolled the other half into the A$1.5-billion Smart Metering Fund. The firm said this was the first continuation fund transaction in Australia.
Continuation funds, which fall under GP-led secondaries, have been used by Asian fund managers such as L Catterton Asia, Navis Capital Partners, Everbridge Partners, PAG and Legend Capital to create liquidity for their investors.
Secondary buyers in Asia include Coller Capital, HabourVest and TPG’s NewQuest, among others.
However, GP-led transactions in Asia were only a small fraction compared to developed markets, accounting for 6% of the global deals in 2022, which even declined by 1 percentage point versus 2021, per a report by advisory firm Lazard.