Newsletter Edition 91
Nov 20, 2025
Kester Announces Oversubscribed Close of £425m Fund IV
Kester has announced the first and final close of its latest investment vehicle, Kester Capital Fund IV, at its hard cap of £425 million. The fund was completed in just four months and was significantly oversubscribed, enabling a single close driven by strong demand from both existing backers and new institutional investors.
Fund IV marks a substantial step up from Kester Capital Fund III, which closed at £200 million of third-party capital. The new fund reinforces Kester’s focused strategy of investing in high-growth businesses across the Technology and Life Sciences sectors — areas where the firm has built a track record of disciplined execution and strong returns.
Over the past year, Kester has continued to expand its portfolio with investments in innovative, sector-leading companies. These include Addresscloud, a provider of insurance risk intelligence; Re-flow, a specialist in field service management software for critical infrastructure industries; and Evestia Clinical, a Clinical Research Organisation supporting global pharmaceutical and biotech clients.
Kester’s performance has been consistently strong, delivering four consecutive exits exceeding 4x returns and eight consecutive exits above 3x. Its diversified investor base includes pension funds, endowments, family offices, and asset managers.
The firm was advised on the Fund IV raise by FirstPoint Equity and Travers Smith.
With Fund IV, Kester is positioned to accelerate its investment pace and support a new generation of high-growth companies at the forefront of technological and scientific innovation.
Warburg Pincus Secures $12bn at First Close of New Global Private Equity Fund
Warburg Pincus has raised more than $12 billion at the first close of its latest global private equity fund, positioning the firm to surpass its $17 billion target despite a challenging fundraising climate for the wider PE sector, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Unnamed sources cited in the report said the initial commitments were secured within just six months of the fund’s formal launch. This marks a notably stronger start than the previous vintage, which collected less than half of its target at first close before ultimately closing on $17.3 billion in 2022 — the largest fundraise in the firm’s history.
The new vehicle will continue Warburg Pincus’s long-standing strategy of pursuing global buyouts and growth investments across sectors and geographies.
The fundraising is being led by Jeffrey Perlman, who took over as CEO last year from longtime leader Chip Kaye. Under Perlman’s tenure, the firm has maintained strong portfolio momentum, generating nearly $11 billion in realisations so far in 2025. This slightly exceeds the $10.3 billion recorded in 2024, underscoring the resilience of the firm’s investment platform.
Warburg Pincus currently manages more than $85 billion in assets across a portfolio of over 215 active companies worldwide. In addition to the flagship fund, the firm is also raising a new secondaries vehicle designed to support continuation funds launched by other private equity managers — an increasingly common tool for providing liquidity to investors while maintaining ownership of attractive assets.
Continuation vehicles represented nearly 20% of private equity exits in the first half of 2025, up from 13% for all of 2024, highlighting their accelerating role in the market.
The strong first close positions Warburg Pincus for one of the largest global private equity fundraises of the year, reinforcing the firm’s reputation as a durable capital magnet even in a period of constrained fundraising across the industry.
Lone Star, Altaris and One Rock Advance in Bidding for Lonza’s €2.5bn Capsules & Health Ingredients Unit
Lone Star Funds, Altaris LLC and One Rock Capital Partners have emerged as the leading contenders in the second round of bidding for Lonza Group’s capsules and health ingredients (CHI) business, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the process.
Additional bidders may still join as the sale continues to unfold, but the three private equity firms are currently viewed as frontrunners.
Lonza is preparing the division for a potential sale with internal carve-out measures already in progress. Bank of America and Centerview Partners are advising on the transaction, which could value the unit at around €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion).
The CHI business was acquired by Lonza from KKR in 2017 for $5.5 billion, but CEO Wolfgang Wienand has made clear that the unit is no longer aligned with Lonza’s strategy as a pure-play contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO). Divesting the business forms part of a broader effort to streamline operations and intensify focus on high-growth biologics, including monoclonal antibody production.
Shares in Lonza have traded largely flat this year, leaving the Swiss group valued at roughly $46 billion. For private equity buyers, the sale represents a rare opportunity to acquire a well-established health ingredients platform with global scale, strong underlying demand, and meaningful potential for operational and commercial expansion.