Private capital reaches $30bn AUM
The Australian private capital industry has reached $30 billion in assets under management following a strong year of fundraising, divided between $23.3 billion in private equity and $7.1 billion in venture capital.
Some 17 private capital funds secured a $6.6 billion in funding during 2018 which caused total industry assets to reach $30 billion, according to data from the Australian Investment Council.
Buyout funds were the dominant players, generating 79 per cent of total new fund commitments. The AIC said buyout funds had raised almost double the amount of new commitments since 2012 than the rest of the industry.
Investment was spread across sectors with Information Technology (IT) seeing the highest number of private equity deals followed by food and agriculture, healthcare and industrials. IT was also popular with venture capital firms with IT software and IT internet sectors making up more than half of total venture capital deal activity.
Yasser El-Ansary, chief executive of the Australian Investment Council, said: “More and more businesses are choosing to raise capital from private capital investors today, rather than through public markets, because of the benefits of partnering with venture, private equity and private credit firms.
“Private capital investors can help unlock the growth and expansion opportunities of businesses, in a way that public markets simply cannot.”
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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