LPs

Vista Perennial fund nets $500 mln commitment from NYS

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Vista Equity Partners, private equity, Robert Smith
Robert Smith
  • NYS committed nearly $6 bln to PE in 2018, with December numbers not yet available
  • The $207 bln pension has a 10 pct PE target
  • CVC also received a commitment from the pension in November

New York State Common Retirement Fund committed $500 million to Vista Equity Partners’ long-duration fund, according to its latest investment disclosure report.

The $207 billion pension reported the commitment as taking place in November, in its monthly disclosure of financial transactions. Earlier in 2018, the pension fund also committed $750 million to Vista Equity Partners Fund VII.

The firm hired Burke Norton, a former Salesforce exec, as co-head and principal of Vista Perennial in November 2017. A source who heard Vista’s pitch said it was mulling a $3 billion target for the debut permanent capital fund. Vista Equity Partners Perennial, like all of Vista’s funds, will focus on enterprise software. A Vista spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

The Vista commitment wasn’t the only PE investment the New York state pension reported. It also committed $114.4 million to CVC Capital Partners Strategic Opportunities Co-Investment Fund II (A). CVC will target stable large-cap companies with strong balance sheets and potential for cash yield in Europe and North America, according to the retirement fund.

NYS has a 10 percent target allocation to PE and committed $5.92 billion to the asset class from January to November 2018.

Action Item: Check out the Common Retirement Fund’s latest investment disclosure report here https://bit.ly/2smC9Py