The amount exceeds the EUR3bn BC Partners had expected to raise by this point. The firm aims to build a EUR6bn fund by the end of the year 2011.
BC Partners took various steps to secure fund commitments such as improving fund terms. The firm offered a 5% ‘early-bird’ fee discount to those willing to participate in the first close.
The firm, which owns Fitness First gyms and Turkish supermarket group Migros, drafted in former Goldman Sachs banker Charlie Bott in 2009 to lead its fundraising efforts.
According to reports, BC Partners expects to hold a second close on the new fund in June and a final close before the end of the year.
BC Partners’ effort is the largest in Europe since the crisis and is only rivaled by San Francisco-based Hellman & Friedman’s $8.8bn fund.
