Graphite Capital raises $760 mln for UK buyouts

LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Private equity (Swiss: PEHN.SW - news) firm Graphite Capital (OTC BB: CGHC - news) has raised 475 million pounds ($759 million) for its latest fund, the largest pool of capital collected solely for UK company buyouts in the past five years.

Graphite (Other OTC: GRPH - news) , which owns London celebrity hangout The Groucho Club and the Hawksmoor restaurant chain, said in a statement on Wednesday that further investor commitments in the next few weeks were likely to bring the total size of its eighth fund to over 500 million pounds.

Private equity houses have struggled to raise funds since the 2008 financial crisis because investors who lost money are pickier about the firms they back.

At the same time buyout companies have found it more difficult to sell on those companies, leaving them less able to return money to investors, who are in turn less able to invest in new funds.

Fundraising has improved this year as the value of portfolios improved and the market for initial public offerings reopened. According to data firm Preqin, the global private equity industry raised more in the second quarter than in any quarter since 2008.

Graphite said existing investors contributed 85 percent of the latest fund. Four-fifths of the money came from the UK, 25 percent from continental Europe and 35 percent from the United States and Japan.

The new fund will target UK companies valued at between 40 million pounds and 150 million pounds.