BC Partners Raises $8.6 Billion Fund

LONDON — The European private equity firm BC Partners said on Tuesday that it had raised 6.5 billion euros ($8.6 billion) in one of the largest fund-raising efforts on the Continent since the beginning of the financial crisis.

The announcement may provide some hope for Europe’s other private equity firms, many of which are looking to tap investors for new capital in the hopes of picking up distressed assets resulting from the European debt crisis. That includes Permira, one of the Continent’s largest buyout specialists, which has spent almost $6 billion since 2010, including acquisitions in debt-plagued countries like Spain and Ireland.

Currently, nine private equity firms, including Warburg Pincus, the Blackstone Group and Apax Partners, are seeking to raise a combined $184 billion for funds targeted at Europe, according to the data provider Preqin. That compares with $62.1 billion that was raised last year for Europe-focused funds.

BC Partners, based in London, said its latest $8.6 billion fund-raising effort represented a 14 percent increase over its previously raised fund. Roughly 40 percent of the investors came from North America, while 30 percent were based in Europe. Investors in Asia and the Middle East account for the remaining money, the company said.

The firm said pension funds remained its largest backers and sovereign wealth funds had provided a quarter of the $8.6 billion total.

Even before the closure of its latest fund, the European private equity firm had been picking up assets. In September, BC Partners bought the Swedish telecommunications company Com Hem for $2.6 billion. The firm also bought the British mobile telephone retailer Phones 4u for approximately $1.1 billion and the Italian fashion company Gruppo Coin in a deal valued at $1.9 billion.

As European companies have suffered from the Continent’s debt crisis, private equity firms specializing in distressed assets have been hunting for bargains. Yet a reduction in debt financing is causing private equity firms to use more of their own money to complete deals.

Last year, debt represented 55 percent of European buyout deals, compared with 66 percent in 2007, according to the data provider LCD, a unit of Standard & Poor’s.