Firms & Funds

JLL Partners raises about $800 mln for Fund VII

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  • Sources expect final close in Q1
  • JLL targeting $1 bln for Fund VII
  • Previous fund netted 25.3 pct IRR as of December 31

JLL Partners has raised approximately $800 million toward its $1 billion target for its seventh flagship fund and will likely hold a final close in the first quarter of 2016, according to two market sources.

While LP demand for JLL Partners Fund VII remains steady, both sources said the firm will keep the fund open to LPs who want to commit through their allocations for the 2016 calendar year. Many institutional investors, including many public pensions, set their planned pace of commitments to new funds around the start of each calendar year.

JLL has been marketing Fund VII since at least mid-2014 when Buyouts first reported the firm expected to hold a first close on $500 million. Since then, the firm attracted commitments from the Montana Board of Investments and New Jersey Division of Investment.

New Jersey approved its $150 million commitment to Fund VII in January, though it had not finalized its allocation as of late September, said Division of Investment Director Chris McDonough. New Jersey decided to sell its stake in an older JLL fund on the secondary market after the State Investment Council discovered the fund owns a payday lender. (Payday lenders are illegal in New Jersey.) The Division of Investment expects to finalize the sale by November.

Fund V, JLL’s $1.5 billion 2005 vintage pool, netted an 11.6 percent internal rate of return and 1.7x multiple through the end of the first quarter, according to Montana. The firm’s sixth fund, which closed on $807 million in 2009, netted a 25.3 percent IRR as of December 31, according to the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association.

JLL Partners was founded in 1988 by Paul S. Levy, according to its website. The firm raised approximately $4.2 billion across its previous six funds.

Action Item: JLL’s investor relations team can be reached here: InvestorRelations@jllpartners.com