Francisco Partners has closed $21 billion in capital commitments across its eighth flagship fund and fourth Agility fund, completing the largest fundraising effort in the technology investment firm’s history.
The closings include Francisco Partners VIII and Francisco Partners Agility IV, the firm’s middle-market investment fund.
Francisco Partners exceeded its original fundraising targets of $14 billion for the flagship strategy and $3.5 billion for Agility IV. The company did not disclose the final amount raised by each individual fund.
The combined closings bring Francisco Partners’ total capital raised since inception to more than $75 billion.
Investors included public and corporate pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, foundations, endowments, family offices and private wealth clients from around the world.
Francisco Partners plans to use the funds to continue investing in technology and technology-enabled companies.
The flagship fund will pursue larger transactions, while the Agility strategy is focused on middle-market businesses. Both funds will partner with founders, corporate sellers and management teams seeking capital and operational support.
Francisco Partners has invested in more than 500 technology companies since its founding approximately 27 years ago. Its investments cover businesses that support critical industries, digital transformation and enterprise technology.
The investment team is organized around specific technology end markets. Francisco Partners believes this structure helps its professionals develop deeper knowledge of individual sectors and evaluate how products create value for customers.
The firm expects artificial intelligence to create significant investment opportunities while also introducing risks for companies whose products or operations could be disrupted.
Francisco Partners plans to focus on businesses that can use AI to improve products, increase productivity or provide greater value to their customers. The firm believes periods of rapid technological change can benefit companies that adopt new capabilities efficiently.
The fundraising was completed during what Francisco Partners described as one of the most selective private capital markets in recent years. The firm said the closings reflect support from existing limited partners and commitments from several new institutional investors.
Francisco Partners also cited its investment performance as a factor in attracting capital. The firm said it has ranked among the top three performers in each of the past six HEC-Dow Jones Large Buyout Performance Rankings.
Kirkland & Ellis served as legal counsel for the funds.
KEY QUOTES:
“In our business, long-term success is created through a series of relationships built on years of trust and collaboration.”
“We want to thank our investors for their support, our management teams for their dedication and performance, our friends and partners throughout the technology ecosystem, our lenders and banks for their partnership, and the team at FP for their pursuit of excellence.”
“We believe we are entering a particularly dynamic period for technology investing. The rapid evolution of AI is creating potential risk, but also a real opportunity for companies that can harness its power to build better products, improve productivity and deliver greater value to customers.”
Dipanjan “DJ” Deb, Co-Founder and CEO of Francisco Partners
“Closing these funds in one of the most selective fundraising environments in recent years reflects limited partners’ confidence in our investment team and the strength and durability of the relationships Francisco Partners has built over more than two decades.”
“We are grateful for the continued support of our longstanding investors and delighted to welcome several new institutional partners from around the world.”
Andrew Brown, Global Head of Investor Relations at Francisco Partners
