About LGT Capital Partners

• Founded: 1998

• Headquarters: Pfäffikon, Switzerland

• AUM: approximately €30bn as of 2024

• Strategy: Small and mid-market buyouts and growth equity, Europe and Asia

• Track record: Fund VI raised €720m in 2020; Fund V closed at €600m in 2017

• Leadership: Managing Partners include Roger König and Tobias Müller

LGT Capital Partners closed its seventh European small buyout fund at €850m, surpassing its €800m target. The fund continues the firm's focus on small buyout opportunities across Europe, maintaining its strategy of backing founder-led businesses and management teams in the lower mid-market. The raise marks an 18% increase over Fund VI's €720m close in 2020.

The oversubscription reflects sustained LP interest in niche European buyout strategies despite a tighter fundraising environment across the broader market. Small buyout funds — typically defined as those targeting enterprise values below €250m — have shown relative resilience in 2023 and 2024, with several managers in the segment closing at or above target while larger buyout funds faced extended timelines and downward revisions. LGT's track record in the segment and its parent ownership structure under the Liechtenstein princely family likely provided continuity appeal to existing LPs seeking re-ups in a year when many commitments were concentrated with established relationships.

The fund-on-fund dynamics merit attention. LGT Capital Partners itself invests in private markets funds as a fund-of-funds manager, and it also raises primary funds like this one. That dual positioning — both an LP allocator and a GP fundraiser — creates an interesting feedback loop in a market where LP appetites are increasingly selective. Whether the firm's own allocation decisions shift in response to what it sees working in its fundraising efforts, or vice versa, is worth tracking as fund-of-funds managers navigate their own capital constraints alongside their direct fund strategies.

Source: AltAssets