Evan McGlinn for The New York TimesBain Capital’s headquarters in Boston.Bain Capital will soon begin raising its 11th leveraged buyout fund, with an aim of drawing in about $8 billion from investors, a person briefed on the matter told DealBook on Wednesday.
Bain is seeking roughly $6 billion for the fund itself, with an additional $2 billion earmarked for a “side car” that will allow for co-investments on big deals, this person said.
It is the latest fund-raising effort by a private equity firm amid a wave of exits from current investments. One of Bain’s portfolio companies, Michaels Stores, is pursuing an initial public offering, in what may be one of the biggest I.P.O.’s of the year outside the technology sector.
But Bain is entering a market that has become decidedly less friendly to the traditional huge leveraged buyout. Firms like the Blackstone Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts have not struck many outsized buyouts in recent months, hampered by lower returns and market volatility.
And as the Deal Professor pointed out in his recent column, the private equity industry is already awash in so-called dry powder, to the tune of $900 billion at the end of last year.
That may help explain why Bain’s latest fund will almost surely be smaller than its previous efforts.
News of Bain’s plans was reported earlier by Fortune.