Secondaries and continuation funds look set to remain a major theme in private equity this year, after Blackstone announced a record $25bn fundraise.
Strategic Partners IX, the US manager’s latest global secondaries strategy, raised $22.2bn, while SP GPS, its first continuation vehicle, raised $2.7bn.
Blackstone Strategic Partners, which has grown from less than $10bn to $67bn in under a decade, provides “liquidity solutions” to investors and private equity sponsors, including single interest and portfolio sales, GP-led secondaries, and co-investments.
BSP runs private equity, real estate, infrastructure and GP-led strategies.
“With substantial scale and our multi-strategy footprint, we believe we are well-positioned to capitalise on the vast, and growing, opportunities across the secondary market,” said Verdun Perry, who heads the unit.
BSP is one of the most prolific secondary market participants in the world, having closed over 1,900 transactions across its private markets platforms, according to a statement.