BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) has secured EUR 805m for the third close of a co-investment fund, Co-Heads of Private Equity, Damien Fournier and Lionel Gomez, told Mergermarket.

The Agility 2 Co-Investment Fund announced its first close at EUR 524m last December, and its second at nearly EUR 700m in June.

Fundraising is expected to conclude by May 2026, and the firm aims to hit the upper end of its initial EUR 700m-EUR 900m target range, Fournier and Gomez said.

Co-investment funds are pre-committed capital pools that can quickly invest alongside general partners (GPs) in private equity firms.

The fund’s predecessor, BNP Paribas Agility Capital Fund, held a final close at EUR 739m against a target of EUR 600m, with 50% of the capital committed from BNP Paribas’ banking arm.

Through Agility 1, the French asset manager has allowed its limited partners (LPs), both institutional investors and family offices, to participate directly in its private equity strategy for the first time, according to a company press release.

The third close of Agility 2 has also attracted substantial capital from the bank’s wealth management division, Fournier and Gomez said. “We are still in discussion to secure more LPs both in France and abroad,” Gomez added.

While the programme primarily targets professional investors with a minimum commitment of EUR 1m, it is now also open to non-professional investors, with entry starting at EUR 100,000, the directors said.

New institutional LPs also participated in the recent fundraising, particularly from Eastern and Central Europe, the executives said, adding that the firm continues to engage with potential LPs both in France and internationally.

Specialised co-investment vehicles are increasingly popular as LPs pursue higher returns, broader diversification, stronger GP alignment.

Platform GPs such as Ardian, Lexington, and HarbourVest have launched commingled private equity co-investment offerings, as well as reduced fees compared to traditional private equity funds.

Direct co-investment funds offer LPs a single-ticket method to gain exposure to dozens of GPs across different sectors, vintages, and geographies, while charging lower fees compared to traditional private equity vehicles.

BNPP AM’s Agility programme, for example, charges a 1% management fee for professional clients and 1.5% for non-professional clients, with a carried interest of 12.5%, Fournier and Gomez said. Agility 1 made approximately 50 investments alongside 25 GPs, while Agility 2 is targeting 50-60 investments with 30-40 GPs, they noted.

Agility 2 has deployed more than EUR 300m across 22 co-investments alongside 18 GPs to date. The team expects to complete four to six more deals by year-end, they added.

However, unlike Agility 1, the second offering will move away from a French bias and into a pan-European approach, Fournier and Gomez said. By investment volume, key geographies include Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, and the UK, they noted.

BNPP AM will typically partner with GPs managing funds of at least EUR 300m, with a sweet spot between EUR 500m and EUR 3bn, according to the private equity co-heads. Mid-cap companies with EBITDA between EUR 10m and EUR 75m are preferred, they said.

“Deployment was heavier in 2Q, but softer in September due to a more suppressed level of deal flow than expected,” Fournier said.

As of 30 June 2025, BNPP AM oversees EUR 612bn in total AUM, of which EUR 344bn is institutional AUM, and serves individual, corporate, and institutional clients in 64 countries, according to its website.