Fewer but larger fund closes in 2022; VC funding rounds tanked in December 2022

S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of global private equity news stories and more published throughout the week.

It was not just private equity fund launches that cratered in 2022. Fund closes ended up well below prior-year totals, too.

But while fund closes were fewer, falling nearly 46% year over year to just 2,024 closes in 2022, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, the size of those funds at final close appears to have grown larger. The average value of a fund to reach final close in 2022 was $456 million, up 65% from an average of $276 million in 2021.

Those numbers could be evidence of a few long-running trends in private equity fundraising. Institutional investors favored established relationships in recent years, reupping with familiar managers as they returned to market with ever-larger funds at an accelerating pace. And as record amounts of capital flowed into private equity, much of that wealth was concentrated with a handful of the largest firms.

The supersizing is apparent at the upper end of the fundraising spectrum. At least 13 funds hit a final close size of $10 billion or more in 2022. The latest editions of two firm's flagship buyout funds, the $26 billion Advent International GPE X LP fund sponsored by Advent International Corp. and Thoma Bravo LP's $24.34 billion Thoma Bravo Fund XV LP, were both larger than any fund to reach final close in 2021.

Take a closer look at private equity fund closings in 2022.

CHART OF THE WEEK: VC funding rounds bottom out

⮞ The final month of 2022 marked a low point for venture capital and private equity funding round investments, which fell to their lowest levels of the year in terms of both value and volume.

⮞ The 1,104 funding rounds in December 2022 raised a total of $19.71 billion, making it the slowest December for venture capital funding rounds since at least 2019.

⮞ The largest chunk of venture funding raised in December went to the technology, media and telecommunications sector, which absorbed nearly one-third of the total, followed by industrials and healthcare.

DEALS AND FUNDRAISING

* S&P Global Inc. is selling its Engineering Solutions unit to KKR & Co. Inc. in a cash deal valued at $975 million. Engineering Solutions provides data, technology and insights that allow customers and users to optimize workflows and end-user experiences.

* Blackstone Inc. closed its funds, Strategic Partners IX LP and Strategic Partners GP Solutions LP, for a rough cumulative total of $24.9 billion. Strategic Partners IX received total commitments of $22.2 billion and Strategic Partners GP Solutions secured $2.7 billion.

* Stafford Capital Partners Ltd. launched its fifth infrastructure secondaries fund, Stafford Infrastructure Secondaries Fund V, with a target of €1.3 billion.

* WestView Capital Partners closed its fifth fund, WestView Capital Partners V LP. The fund was oversubscribed and closed at its hard cap of $1 billion.

ELSEWHERE IN THE INDUSTRY

* EQT Partners AB made a voluntary public takeover bid for va-Q-tec AG, a Germany-based vacuum insulation panel company.

* H.I.G. Capital LLC completed the acquisition of U.K.-based Classic Lifts Ltd., which provides lift engineering and maintenance services.

* Equistone Partners Europe Ltd. bought a majority stake in Nexus Vehicle Rental from Phoenix Equity Partners Ltd. The acquired company is a business-to-business vehicle rental aggregator platform.

FOCUS ON: HEALTHCARE

* KKR made a growth investment in Clinisupplies Ltd., a continence-care product company in the U.K.

* Synokem Pharmaceuticals Ltd. received a strategic growth investment from TA Associates Management LP. The India-based pharmaceutical company's founders will remain shareholders in Synokem alongside the private equity firm.

* Avesi Partners LLC made an investment in Muir Woods LLC, an adolescent-focused behavioral health services company.

* Praesidian Capital provided anchor investment to Care+ Pediatric Urgent Care.